Team Sonic Riders
by JCDragon2819
Summary: Another Ex World Grand Prix is upon us, sponsored by Eggman and Dodon Pa, and with the Master Emerald as the pinnacle of the prize! Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles face off against many of their friends and rivals in the newest Extreme Gear competition, including Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, Amy, Cream, Vector, and of course, none other than the Babylon Rogues. **(Newcomers included)
1. The Ex World Grand Prix

It was a peaceful morning on the floating island known as Angel Island, which was home of an ancient relic known as the Master Emerald, guarded by Knuckles the Echidna. It was full of vast mountains and plains, and the natural scenery on the planet was some of the greatest that could ever be seen.

One moment, Knuckles the Echidna was laying down beside the Master Emerald, dozing in the afternoon sun… But then, there was a loud rumbling noise. Knuckles woke up with a start and looked around.

"Who's there?" he called. "Eggman?"

Suddenly, the whole island began to shake, and then it began to fall! Knuckles looked behind him, and the Master Emerald had disappeared from its altar! He looked up and saw the Master Emerald being carried away by something. It was round and floating in the sky as it carried it far away.

Knuckles clenched his fists and shouted up at the sky. "Eggman!" he growled.

The island landed in the ocean beside the Mystic Ruins. When it stopped falling, Knuckles slowly walked off the island and onto the mainland. Almost right away, he ran into Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick Miles Prower, who was better known by his nickname, "Tails".

Sonic noticed Knuckles was angry. "Hey, chill out, Knuckles," he said to him, "what's the matter?"

"What do you think?!" growled Knuckles. "Eggman's stolen the Master Emerald once again, and Angel Island fell from the sky!"

"Really?" asked Sonic. "That's unusual because Eggman just sent me and Tails an invitation."

"An invitation?" asked Knuckles. "What for?"

"We don't know," answered Sonic, "because the details were sketchy. All he said was that it was something we wouldn't want to miss if we wanted to get the Master Emerald back."

"Sonic and I were just about to head there in our plane," added Tails, showing Knuckles the Tornado. "Want to come with us?"

"You bet," replied Knuckles. "I'm going to get the Master Emerald back no matter what!"

"Then hop in and let's get going," said Sonic. He and Knuckles climbed onto the wings of the Tornado, and Tails hopped into the pilot's seat.

In the back seat, Knuckles noticed a large bag. "What's that for?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sonic answered, "but Tails said we needed it just in case."

"Okay," said Tails, "let's go see what's going on with Eggman." He pressed a button on the control panel, and the Tornado's propeller began to spin. Once it was ready for takeoff, the plane took to the sky.

A short while later, the three of them landed in Future City, which was the site of the very first World Grand Prix Eggman had hosted. Once the plane came to a stop, the three friends climbed off and walked around.

"Here we are," said Tails, "this is where we were told to come to."

Then, Knuckles saw something large and round beside them. It looked just like the Egg Mobile, and that made Knuckles get angry immediately. "Eggman!" he snarled. "Give me back the Master Emerald!"

But when the floating round object turned around, it wasn't Eggman who was inside it. It was a strange alien creature with a white mustache.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Dodon Pa?!" he gasped.

"Hello, old friends," Dodon Pa chuckled. "I see you've received my invitation, but I wasn't expecting you to arrive so quickly."

"You sent the invitation?" asked Tails.

"Yes and no," answered Dodon Pa. "You see, after the last time we met, I began the development of a newer, more secure Ultimate Energy Engine. The egg-shaped mustached man has asked me to assist him, with the proposal that the engine will be perfected."

"So you _are_ in cahoots with Eggman!" Knuckles growled. He angrily stepped up to Dodon Pa, and he stared him in the eye. "Okay, I want to know what's going on here _right now_!" he demanded.

"Yeesh, chill out, Knuckles," Sonic said easily. "You could at least let him explain what Eggman wants with him." Then, he looked at Dodon Pa. "So, what's going on here?" he asked. "And what does this have to do with Eggman?"

"Allow me to explain," answered Dodon Pa. "The mustached man has asked me to assist him in hosting the Ex World Grand Prix, as well as to sponsor it."

"The Ex World Grand Prix?" asked Sonic. "Eggman asked you to help him with that? But, you're the president of a car company."

"Yes, Donpa Motors is indeed a car company, blue hedgehog," answered Dodon Pa, "but when I spoke to the overweight and bald genius, he and I also made a deal with the local Extreme Gear company, Accelovice. The deal is that we have agreed to improve our own products with each other's assistance: Donpa Motors will begin redeveloping the Ultimate Energy Engine using teamwork energy gathered from races involving the technology known as 'Extreme Gear', and Accelovice will begin using Donpa Motors' advanced technological system to improve the development of Extreme Gear. So, it is a win-win for everyone involved."

Tails smiled at this. "Wow, that's great," he responded, "but what about this invitation?"

"You and many others have been sent invitations to the Ex World Grand Prix, hoping to motivate the greatest racers from around the world to take part," answered Dodon Pa. "In fact, you three are the very first ones to arrive."

"Well, what about the Master Emerald?" asked Knuckles. "It's my responsibility to guard that relic, and someone has stolen it from Angel Island."

"If you wish to get it back, you will have to enter the Ex World Grand Prix," Dodon Pa told him, "as that is the largest value reward in our prize this time."

"The reward is legitimate?" asked Tails.

"Yes. The winning team gets a legitimate cash prize and treasure reward, with your Master Emerald being the pinnacle of it all," Dodon Pa confirmed. "Like the previous Prix before, competitors all must enter in teams of three to be eligible."

"Then we'll enter as a team," replied Sonic.

Tails reached into the back seat of the Tornado and took out the bag. He opened it and revealed his, Sonic's, and Knuckles' Extreme Gears and clothing. "It's a good thing I brought these," he said to his friends.

"Thanks, Tails," Knuckles said to him, but then he looked at Dodon Pa. "So, are we allowed to use our own Gears?"

"Anyone who hasn't their own Extreme Gear will have one provided to them free of charge, but any personal Gears already owned by racers are welcome," Dodon Pa answered, "and we also will provide tuning free of charge. The opening ceremony starts tomorrow, and team registration is open from now until then, so you three may use the rest of the day to register and prepare for the races. All you must do is register your team's name to my assistant, the little robot child."

Then, Omochao flew up to the three friends. Omochao was a blue robot, designed to resemble the mysterious creatures in Sonic's world known as "Chao". "Hello, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles," he said to them. "I'm your eye in the sky, Omochao. So, you three are entering the World Grand Prix as a team?"

"You bet," responded Sonic. "Just like last time, we're Team Heroes."

"Great," said Omochao happily. "You're officially registered, so now we just have to wait until tomorrow for the races to start, and hopefully we will get some more teams to enter. Until then, please enjoy yourselves." Then, Omochao and Dodon Pa flew away.

After they had left, Sonic thought for a moment. "Hmm," he said to himself, "I'd bet he'll enter if he figures I am."

"Who?" asked Tails.

Sonic looked at his friend. "Jet," he replied. "He's always wanted to challenge me to a race on Extreme Gear any chance he gets." Then he looked towards the sky. "Jet, wherever you are," he said, "I'll be waiting for you!"

A very long way away, the Babylon Rogues had landed their airship and were standing outside it. Jet and Wave were checking out their personal Extreme Gears, which Wave had crafted herself thanks to her expertise in the field from her father.

But Wave was anxiously tapping her foot on the ground. "Where the heck is Storm?" she muttered. "I thought he was going to come right back."

Just then, there was a loud voice. "Boss!"

Jet and Wave looked towards the sound, and they saw Storm sprinting towards them. He tried to stop, but he ran right into Jet and both of them fell over!

Wave looked down at them, and she giggled. "Real smooth, Storm," she said to him teasingly. "Real smooth."

"Get off of me, you big klutz!" Jet cried, his voice muffled by Storm's bulk. "And Wave! You help me!"

"Fine, whatever," Wave muttered. Reluctantly, Wave took Storm's hand, and using all her strength, she helped him to stand up… which wasn't easy at all. Even when Storm was standing up again, he felt very dizzy.

Jet stood up and glared at Storm. "What do you want?!" he snarled.

"Boss, I've just found something good!" Storm said joyfully.

"Is it another of Eggman's tricks?" Wave muttered.

Storm held up his hand and revealed a microchip. "Check this out, Wave," he told her. "I just found it laying on the ground, and it's addressed to us."

"What?" she asked. "Let me see that." Wave took the chip and inserted it into the red gem on her necklace. Immediately, a holographic display appeared in front of them, and sure enough, there was Eggman inside it.

"Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho," Eggman chuckled. "Greetings, Babylon Rogues," he said to them, "I'm pleased to see you have accepted my invitation."

Jet stared at Eggman. "What do you want this time?" he asked. "Is this just another evil plan?"

"Plan?" asked Eggman. "Why, I don't have any evil plans at all… I just wish to invite you to the newest Ex World Grand Prix."

"No chance, doctor," Wave replied. "The last time we entered your silly competition, we all went home empty-handed. Why should we expect this to be any different?"

Eggman chuckled. "I'd expected you to ask that," he replied, "and to prove it to you, I'd like to show you…" He walked out of view, and when he came back, he was holding the Master Emerald. "This!" he strained.

Jet, Wave, and Storm gasped when they saw the gigantic emerald. "Wow, that's a big gem," Jet said. "That alone would be the biggest treasure we Babylonians have ever gotten!"

"And this is just part of it," Eggman added. "There are more treasures and money rewards than this… and they're all yours if you'll enter the Grand Prix."

"You're really being serious this time?" asked Wave, sounding suspicious.

"I mean it one hundred percent," Eggman answered. "Win the races, and it's all yours. Also, I'd like to add that Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends will be there, too."

Jet chuckled at that remark. "Deal, Eggman," he replied. "We'll be there."

"Great," smiled Eggman. "The opening ceremony is tomorrow in Future City, and team registration will be open until then. So, I'll see you there, I expect." Then the hologram disappeared.

Once Eggman's message ended, Jet looked at Wave and Storm. "Alright, guys," he said to them, "this is it. We're going to enter the contest and claim that treasure as ours." Then, he glared at Wave. "But I don't want any foul play in this thing from either of you… especially you, Wave."

"Okay, Jet," said Wave, trying to act innocent. "I promise."

"Good," said Jet, "now let's go. We've got some practicing to do."

The Babylon Rogues grabbed their Extreme Gears, and they went back into their airship. But what they didn't know was that Rouge the Bat had been spying on them the whole time…

Rouge flew away and headed to her headquarters at G.U.N., where she and Shadow the Hedgehog worked part-time. When she arrived at the building, she saw Shadow outside, standing by himself.

"Listen, Shadow," said Rouge, "Eggman's hosting another Grand Prix, and this time he's got the Master Emerald at stake."

"I see," said Shadow. "Actually, the Commander was just talking to me about that. He received an invitation from the doctor for you and me to participate, and he was telling me that he and the rest of G.U.N. could handle things around here themselves with their robots… not like anyone other than the doctor does anything diabolical."

Rouge grinned. "Wonderful," she smiled. "Come on, let's go sign up."

"Wait," said Shadow, "they're fixing up Omega."

"Why do we need Omega?" asked Rouge.

"Because the invitation said contestants need to enter as teams of three," answered Shadow, "and after all, Omega's our friend."

Just then, E-123 Omega stepped outside the door. "My fine-tuning and repairs are complete," he declared. "I am ready for your request."

"Okay, Omega," said Shadow, "listen closely. Rouge and I are going to enter the doctor's new World Grand Prix, and we need and would like you to join us."

"Negative," Omega immediately denied. "I will not assist in Eggman's schemes."

"It's not a scheme, Omega," Rouge told him, "it's a legitimate competition. Besides, it'll give you a chance to prove you're the Ultimate Robot."

Immediately, Omega changed his mind. "Very well," he replied.

"But listen, we will not eliminate Eggman during this, and we must follow the rules of the competition," said Shadow. "Can we trust you with that, Omega?"

"Affirmative," answered Omega.

"Good," replied Shadow, "then let's go sign up. I'll bring us to the location the invitation said."

Together, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega headed off for Future City, where the invitation requested them to go.

Over by a meadow with fresh flowers, Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit were relaxing in the sun. Amy was lying in the grass under a tree, dozing happily, and Cream was picking flowers.

At first, everything was quiet… but then, there was a squealing sound. Cream looked towards it, and she saw her pet Chao, Cheese flying towards her. He was holding an envelope in his hands.

Cheese handed Cream the letter, and she saw it said "Amy and Cream" upon it. So, she and Cheese went over to Amy. "Amy," she said, "Amy, wake up!"

Amy opened her eyes lazily. "…Sonic…?" she muttered.

Cream giggled. "No, Amy, it's Cream."

Amy yawned and stood up. "Hi, Cream," she said, and she stretched her body out. "What's up?"

"We have mail," said Cream, handing Amy the letter.

Amy opened the letter, and she took out a piece of paper. Inside it, there was an invitation.

"Wow," she said, "it's an invitation from Sonic to another Ex World Grand Prix." She looked at Cream with a smile. "Come on, Cream," she said, "let's go sign up!" Amy immediately ran off, leaving Cream and Cheese all alone.

"Amy, come back!" Cream called, and she and Cheese hurried off after Amy.

At the Chaotix Detective Agency office, Espio and Charmy were alone. Their boss, Vector, had gone out on something, and they were waiting for him to return. At first, everything was quiet… but then Vector came storming in.

"Good news, boys!" Vector called. "I've gotten us something to do."

Charmy fluttered up to Vector. "Is it fun?" he asked excitedly.

"You bet, Charmy!" Vector answered. "And it's gonna pay off, big time!"

Charmy flew around in excitement, but Espio remained calm.

"What is it, Vector?" asked Espio.

"Well, when I got back, the landlord said he had something addressed for us," Vector answered, and he showed he had a letter in his hand. "It's another Extreme Gear World Grand Prix, and it promises an incredible cash prize reward."

Espio sighed. "A racing tournament?" he replied. "That's not work."

"I didn't say it was work," Vector told him. "But I did say that it promises a cash prize, and we never turn down work or competitions that pay."

"But what about these so-called 'Extreme Gears'?" asked Charmy. "I have never even heard of them, and I don't think I'd know how to use one, either."

"No sweat, Charmy," said Vector, "they provide all contestants with customized Gears for no charge, and they also offer training at the racing site before the ceremony tomorrow."

"Alright!" Charmy declared. He and Vector were about to head off, but then they noticed Espio, who still didn't look convinced.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Espio responded. "I have a feeling that something suspicious is going on. Count me out."

"We have to enter as a team of three to be eligible, Espio," said Vector.

"Yeah, come on!" Charmy added. "Don't be a fun crusher, Espio!"

Espio sighed. "Fine, but I think we should try to investigate what's really happening," he replied. "This smells like it has Eggman's dirty tricks written all over it."

"Okay, then," said Vector, "let's go!"

Espio and Charmy went out the door, but just before Vector could follow them, he heard a ringing sound. His office's telephone was ringing, so he answered it right away.

"Hello?" Vector asked. "Amy, is that you?"

"Hi, Vector," said Amy, "I'm calling because there's another World Grand Prix coming up."

"I know," said Vector, "I got that invitation, too."

"So, what do you say?" asked Amy. "Want to join me and Cream like last time?"

"Sorry, Amy," Vector said, "but I already told Espio and Charmy we'd enter as our own team."

"Oh, okay," Amy said, sounding disappointed. "Well, I guess we'll have to find someone else to join us."

"Why don't you ask Big to join you?" Vector suggested. "I'm sure he'd like to."

"Okay, Vector," said Amy, "I'll ask him. Thanks anyway."

"Not a problem," Vector smiled, "I'll see you there." Vector hung up the phone, and then he and the other members of the Chaotix headed out the door right away and towards the race site without hesitation. Vector and Charmy were truly looking forwards to it, but Espio wasn't so sure…


	2. Old Rivalries Sparked Anew

Bright and early the next morning, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were at Future City, where the opening ceremony of the Ex World Grand Prix was set to take place. They had their Extreme Gear attire on, and they were riding their Gears. They came to the edge of the track after the first jump, and there they saw a large area set aside for the ceremony. They saw Dodon Pa standing on a stage, with Omochao beside him.

Sonic jumped off his Gear, which was named the Blue Star, then he picked it up and went over to see Dodon Pa. "Hey, Dodon Pa, we're here," he said.

Dodon Pa noticed Sonic and chuckled. "Ho-ho-ho-ho, hello there, blue hedgehog," he said, "bright and early today, aren't you?"

"You'd better believe it," Sonic replied.

Tails and Knuckles walked up beside Sonic, each of them carrying their own Gears as well, known as the Yellow Tail and the Red Rock. "Where is everyone else?" asked Tails.

"The opening ceremony is still a few hours away," said Omochao. "We haven't even finished setting it up. But until then, team registration for anyone else is still open."

"How many teams have registered so far?" asked Sonic.

"Including your own, five," answered Omochao. "Dodon Pa usually likes to keep things balanced, so he's hoping that at least one more team will register to make it six." Then, he noticed someone arriving from behind Sonic. "And speaking of, here comes one of the teams now."

Sonic and his friends turned around, and they saw Amy Rose coming to see them, carrying her own Gear. Amy was in love with Sonic ever since she first met him, so she would usually obsess over him, which would make him uncomfortable. But lately, Amy had been keeping her emotions more under control, and this made Sonic feel more comfortable to see her.

"Sonic!" Amy said happily. "You're here!"

For once, Sonic opened his arms for Amy. Upon instinct, she walked into them, and the two of them hugged gently. "Hi, Amy," Sonic said to her. "I suppose you've entered the Grand Prix, too?"

Amy let go of Sonic and stepped back. "Of course," she answered. "It's exciting and really fun. Besides, why would I ever turn down your invitation?"

Sonic looked puzzled. "My invitation?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember?" asked Amy. "Yesterday you sent me and Cream an invitation to the Grand Prix!"

"That wasn't me, Amy," Sonic replied. "That must've been Eggman."

"Oh," said Amy. "Well, still, since you're here, Cream and I are gonna join it anyway!"

"Wait, Amy," said Tails, "where is Cream? And who's your third teammate?"

Amy turned around, and then she saw her friends, Cream the Rabbit and Big the Cat, coming behind her. Cream was riding her Gear with Cheese floating next to her, but Big was running on foot, carrying his pet frog, Froggy. When they finally caught up to Amy, they were very tired.

"There you guys are," Amy said to them. "What happened to you?"

"Amy…" panted Cream, "…you know that Mister… Big doesn't… know how to ride an… Extreme Gear."

Sonic noticed Big and he was puzzled. "You entered with Big this time?" he asked.

"I had to," answered Amy. "When I first contacted Vector after receiving our invitation, he said he was entering this competition with his own team, so I had to ask Big to be our third member instead. Besides, he was with me and Omochao at Dodon Pa's races."

Dodon Pa noticed Amy and her friends, and he spoke to them. "Hello, pink hedgehog and big feline," he said to them, "I see you have entered this competition together, just as you have with my own." Then, he noticed Cream. "And as for you, Ms. Bunny Rabbit, I am honored to meet you. My name is Dodon Pa, and I am the sponsor of this Ex World Grand Prix."

Cream looked up at Dodon Pa. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Dodon Pa," she said politely. "But by the way, my name's Cream."

"Ah, Ms. Cream," he replied. "I wish you the best of luck out there."

Omochao flew up beside him. "I am going to be the live commentator again," he said, "so I won't be racing with your team this time, Cream."

"But wait, Mr. Dodon Pa, Mr. Omochao," Cream replied, "Mr. Big doesn't have an Extreme Gear, and he doesn't know how to ride one, either."

"Don't worry, Cream," Omochao replied, "all contestants without a Gear or experience are provided with both of those at no charge." He came to Big and observed him carefully. "Big, would you please come with me so I can have you examined?"

"Uh… okay," Big responded. "But, will it be hard?"

"Hard?" asked Omochao. "No, not at all! We're just going to have your balance tested and your weight recorded to determine what Gear will be best for you, and then it will be tuned for you."

"Okay, then," said Big, and he looked at Froggy. "Come on, Froggy, let's go!"

"But," said Omochao, "I'm afraid you'll have to leave Froggy out of this. He's much too small to ride a Gear, and the rules only allow for three races per team."

"But I can't leave Froggy all alone," said Big. "He'd be so sad. Isn't there a way that he could ride with me, just so he won't have to be so lonely?"

Omochao thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose we could put a plastic ball on the Gear and place Froggy inside it," he responded. "Would that work for him, Big?"

"Oh, yes!" said Big. "If we fill it with water, Froggy can stay cool in there, too!"

"Okay, then," said Omochao. "Come along, and let's get you taken care of." Omochao flew off, leading Big and Froggy to a small space out of the way.

After they went off, Sonic looked at Amy and Cream again. "Well, this makes two teams," he said, "but what about Jet and his gang? I thought for sure they'd come."

"We're right here, Sonic the Hedgehog!" a voice called.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream looked up, and on the edge of the roadway that went above the track, they saw Jet, Wave, and Storm holding their Gears. Then they jumped down and landed on their Gears, and they drifted over to Sonic and his friends. They came to a stop and jumped off just a few feet away.

Sonic grinned. "Jet," he replied, "I should've figured you'd be here sooner or later."

"What more would you expect?" scoffed Jet. "After all, we're here to win everything: the contest, the treasure, the cash prize, and especially that giant gem."

Knuckles clenched his fists at Jet. "You're not getting your filthy hands on the Master Emerald, punk!" he snarled. "That belongs to my homeland, and I'm going to take it back!"

Storm stepped between Knuckles and Jet. "You really think so, do you?" he stated, and he pounded his fists together. "Maybe I'll just have to show you just who's really going to take that emerald! After all, we're the Babylon Rogues!"

Jet paid no attention to Knuckles and Storm. He just shook his head and sighed.

Wave looked at Tails with a sly grin on her face. "So, did you do more research on Extreme Gear like you said you would, shorty?" she asked him.

Tails chuckled and scratched his head. "Uh, yeah," he said innocently.

Wave just grinned. "Well, I just hope you put it to good use with your tuning because if you guys want to win, you'll have to face us for sure," she told him.

Cream heard what Wave had said, and she sounded upset. "Hey, you shouldn't be so mean to Tails!" she complained to Wave.

Wave looked at Cream. "Mean?" she asked, and then she chuckled. "No, I'm just playing around with him," she said to her.

But Cream didn't look too convinced. "That doesn't sound like playing to me," she responded. "You're calling him names!"

Tails walked over to Cream and gently patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Cream," he said to her, "I can handle it, but thank you."

Cream looked at Tails, and seeing his half-hearted smile, she felt a little better. "Well… okay," she said nervously.

Jet scoffed. "Well, I admire your standing up for a friend, little girl," he said, "but where's your third teammate?"

Just then, there was a croaking sound coming from nearby. Jet looked around, but then he felt something leap onto his head… something wet and slimy. Jet looked up, and then he heard Wave shouting.

"Ew! A frog!" she called. "Get off of Jet!"

The frog leaped off of Jet's head, and then it hopped onto the ground. Before it could go anywhere, a plastic ball was placed over it, and then the lid was closed.

When Jet looked towards where the frog had hopped, he saw Big. He had caught Froggy and held onto the ball.

"Oh, Froggy," said Big gently, "you shouldn't go hopping on people like that." Then he looked at Jet. "Sorry there, he slipped away from me."

Jet glared at Big. "That thing is yours?!" he gasped.

"Yeah," answered Big, "he's my best friend, Froggy."

Storm stepped up to Big and pounded his fists angrily. "Look, bub," he said, "you'd better keep that green guy away from the boss, or I'll give it a proper pounding!"

Now, Big looked unhappy. "Don't you dare hurt Froggy," he said, "or else I'll hurt you."

Storm laughed. "What with, ya big bozo?" he asked, cackling. "You want a fight? I'll give you one!" Storm circled his arm and aimed a punch toward Big's body, but once Storm's fist hit him, it bounced off of Big and nailed Storm in his face!

Now, Storm wasn't so cocky anymore. Instead, he whimpered in pain. "Ow," he whined, "I never imagined how powerful my own fists were…"

Wave shook her head and muttered to herself. "What a wimp," she said mutely, and then she looked at Big. "Listen, big guy," she said, "you should really keep that thing confined in something, instead of letting it hop around."

"Oh, that's what this ball is for," said Big. "Sorry about this." Then, he began to walk away, talking to Froggy. "Come on, Froggy," he said gently, "let's put some water in there for you."

After Big had walked away, Jet looked at Sonic and his friends. "Okay, now that everything's back under control," said Jet, "who was that giant fellow that was here a minute ago?"

"That's Big," answered Amy. "He's an old friend of mine."

"So… his name is Big?" asked Jet. "That's a rather fitting name for a guy like him."

"Mr. Big has joined me and Amy to participate in the races," said Cream. "He brought Froggy with him so he wouldn't be lonely, and my pet Chao Cheese came to cheer me on."

Storm now felt better, so he sounded more like himself. "Can that guy even ride an Extreme Gear?" he asked. "He doesn't look very bright."

Wave muttered to herself again. "Look who's talking, Storm," she whispered.

"Well, he hasn't ridden an Extreme Gear before," answered Sonic, "but that doesn't mean he can't. After all, Big has proven his skills when he raced with Amy at Dodon Pa's Grand Prix."

Wave looked puzzled. "Who is 'Dodon Pa'?" she asked.

At that moment, Dodon Pa came over and saw the Babylon Rogues. "That would be me," he said to them. "Greetings, feathered friends. I am Dodon Pa."

Jet glared at Dodon Pa. "You?" he asked. "You look like a strange one to me. Are you in cahoots with Eggman?"

"Absolutely not, green-feathered friend," the Tanuki answered. "I am instead researching the teamwork energy that can be developed through Extreme Gear, and using it to develop the Ultimate Energy Machine, aimed to usher in a new era of prosperity and cooperation throughout the universe. As a side note, I have also been asked to sponsor this Grand Prix. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work I must attend to." Dodon Pa flew away in his flying machine.

After Dodon Pa left, Tails spoke up again. "So, that's Dodon Pa," he said. "He's a super-genius, just like Eggman, and we've participated in a competition he's held in the past for the same purpose."

"Who exactly is that guy?" asked Wave. "And what does he do?"

Before anyone could answer, Vector came up with Espio and Charmy beside the Babylon Rogues. "He's the president of Donpa Motors," Vector explained.

Wave heard Vector, and now she looked surprised. "Donpa Motors?" she asked. "Isn't that the biggest automobile company in the universe?"

"Yes," answered Espio, "indeed, it is. But because of the experience from the technological capabilities of Extreme Gear, Dodon Pa has decided to invest in that as well, especially since he heard about the competition and style of racing them."

Jet glanced up at Vector. "Hey, aren't you that crocodile guy from the last Grand Prix?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Vector answered. "The name's Vector and these are my boys, Espio and Charmy. Together, we're the Chaotix Detective Agency."

"Yeah!" added Charmy. "We're here to investigate Eggman, but we're also gonna try to win the prize."

"Right," sighed Vector. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to get Espio and Charmy some Extreme Gear practice."

Sonic pointed towards where Big had gone to. "Just head that way and find Omochao," he said. "He's helping Big with the same thing right now."

"Thanks, Sonic," Vector replied, and he, Espio, and Charmy headed off.

Meanwhile, in a different part of the city, Shadow and Rouge had just arrived with their personal Gears, wearing their Extreme Gear attire. They had Omega with them, but he didn't have a Gear or any experience with riding one, so they were walking.

Shadow began to ponder. "Hmm," he said, "if we're going to enter the Grand Prix with Omega, how will we get him to ride an Extreme Gear?"

"I don't know," Rouge began, "but I suppose we'll just have to—" But before she could finish, Omega began calling out.

"Eggman robot approaching! Beginning annihilation sequence!" With a loud blast, he began firing his weapons at something, and then there was a large billow of black smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Shadow and Rouge could see what Omega had destroyed. It was one of Eggman's green E-10000 series robots. The robot had a hole in its chest from Omega's blasts, and its eyes flickered.

Shadow came over and examined the robot, and then he frowned. "Omega! This is one of Eggman's racing robots! You're not supposed to destroy these!" he scolded.

Omega lowered his hands and looked down at the robot. "Sorry," he said.

"Oh, don't worry about it," sighed Shadow, "Eggman has a lot more of these. Just please don't destroy any more of them. Now, how are we going to get you accustomed to Extreme Gear?"

Rouge came up and looked inside the robot's body. "Hmm, that's interesting," she said, "this robot has a lot of rider data stored inside it." Then, she looked at Omega. "Omega, can you take this robot's data and use it for yourself?" she asked him. "Maybe it'll help you with becoming a real Extreme Gear rider."

"Affirmative," answered Omega. He lowered his body to the destroyed robot, and there was a strange whirring sound. After a while, the noise stopped, and the robot was deactivated completely.

"Data upload completed," said Omega. "I now possess all the racing data this robot was collecting."

"Excellent," grinned Shadow, "now all we need is to get you a Gear."

"That'll be easy," Rouge replied, "look here."

Shadow and Rouge turned around, and they saw the robot's Extreme Gear, one of the mass-produced E-Gear models, sitting on the ground. It was still in perfect condition.

Shadow looked at Omega. "Do you think you can tune that Gear for yourself, Omega?" he asked. "It's one of Eggman's own customized models for the E-10000 series, and he calls them the E-Gear models."

"Indeed," Omega confirmed. "Data analysis confirms that Gear tuning and engineering exists. I can retune this Gear for myself, and I will call it… E-Gear 123." He reached down and picked up the Gear, and he began to walk away.

Shadow and Rouge looked at each other and smiled. They were pleased that now Omega had the skills to ride and a Gear for himself, even if he had stolen them from an E-10000 series robot. Now, they would be ready for the World Grand Prix.

In a few minutes, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega came to the part of Future City where Sonic, Jet, and their friends were. The three of them carried their Extreme Gears over to see them, and they were immediately greeted.

Sonic chuckled. "Well, well, if it isn't Shadow, my arch-rival," he said teasingly.

"Hello, Sonic," said Shadow bluntly.

Rouge walked over to Knuckles and winked at him. "Hi, sugar," she said flirtingly to him. "I heard that your precious gemstone had been included in the Grand Prix's reward, so we came to win it."

Knuckles crossed his arms and shook his head. "Whatever, Rouge," he muttered. "You know it's my duty to guard the Master Emerald, and I'm going to get it back, one way or another."

Jet glanced towards Omega, looking curious. "Hey, Shadow," he asked, "who's your robot friend?"

"That is my friend, and my teammate," Shadow bragged. "Meet E-123 Omega, the most powerful of the E-Series, and the most powerful robot in the world."

Omega looked up at the Babylon Rogues. A red light scanned across them from his eyes, and then it faded. "Scanning life forms," he declared, "confirmed presence of the Babylon Rogues."

Storm looked over Omega and stared him down. "So, you think you can ride as good as us, eh?" he asked.

"I do not think, I know," Omega declared. "I am the Ultimate Robot, made with titanium-grade armor and fitted with weaponry of many varieties. I am stronger than you, and I will prove it."

Wave looked down at Omega's Gear, but she didn't look too impressed. "That looks like one of Eggman's Gears," she replied. "He doesn't know much about Extreme Gear, so how do you propose you'll beat us on that?"

Omega answered Wave immediately. "I have collected data all about Extreme Gear, including tuning," he declared. "I shall reengineer this Gear using that data, and you will see that this will become the Ultimate Extreme Gear."

Sonic chuckled. "This is gonna be a fun day," he said to himself. "I can tell right now."


	3. The Opening Ceremony

A few hours later, almost all the fans and competitors had arrived for the opening ceremony. A stage had been set up near the starting line in Metal City, at the bottom of the first slope off the side of the track. The competitors were lined up in teams in front of the stage, and behind them, Dodon Pa and Omochao were looking upon the area.

Just a short distance away, Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat had arrived from their own respective time and dimension. After their previous endeavors with Sonic, Tails had constructed each of them a special device that would allow them to teleport back and forth between their homes, similar to Chaos Control. Like everyone else, they had heard about the World Grand Prix from Eggman, and they brought their Extreme Gears with them to participate.

As the two of them looked towards the site, Silver looked at Blaze. "Hey Blaze, I wonder why Eggman invited us to his Grand Prix," he said to her. "He's quite sneaky, and this might just be a trap."

"You have a point, Silver," agreed Blaze, "but I've yet to participate in an official Extreme Gear World Grand Prix, and so have you. For what we know, this may be very fun."

"Yeah," agreed Silver, "I'm looking forward to it."

"So am I," Blaze responded, and then she looked back at the site. "Oh, dear," she said unhappily, "it looks like we might be too late."

"Oh, don't say that just yet," Silver reassured her. "Let's go ask them if we can still participate. It wouldn't hurt."

"Very well, then," said Blaze, and the two of them began walking towards the site.

But while Blaze and Silver walked along, they didn't notice that they were being followed by someone. The figure was lurking in shadows behind buildings and cars, and it glared evilly at the two of them… Then, it followed them by keeping itself concealed behind obstacles.

Meanwhile, Dodon Pa was looking concerned. There still only were five teams currently registered for the Ex World Grand Prix, and it was almost time for the opening ceremony to begin. "Hmm," he sighed, "it looks like we may have to make some rearrangements because we still have only five teams competing."

"Don't give up just yet, Dodon Pa," Omochao assured him. "There's still ten minutes left until registration closes. We just have to hope for the best."

"Quite right," agreed Dodon Pa. Just then, he heard another voice:

"Excuse us."

Dodon Pa turned his head, and then he noticed Silver and Blaze. "Oh, if it isn't the silver hedgehog and purple princess from my Grand Prix," he said to them. "Can I help you?"

"We were invited to the World Grand Prix," Silver explained, "so we came here wondering if we were still in time to register."

"Of course you are," answered Omochao. "We actually needed just one final team to register, because we prefer to keep the number of competing teams as even as possible."

"Then we shall fill that role," Blaze said calmly. "We've yet to participate in an Ex World Grand Prix ourselves."

"Oh, wonderful," chuckled Dodon Pa, "now we shall have perfection."

"Well, there's just one thing," Omochao replied, "there's only the two of you. If you want to participate, you need a third team member."

"We do?" asked Silver. "Oh, we didn't get that memo."

"You didn't?" asked Omochao. "That's unusual because I thought all the invitations were required to have that information included."

"We don't even know anyone to be our third member," said Blaze unhappily.

"Let's just get Vector to join us," Silver began, "since he raced with us last time—"

"Vector is already registered with his own team," interrupted Omochao, "and no single racer may be on two teams at once."

Blaze frowned. "Oh, well," she sighed, "I don't think we'll find a third teammate to join us so quickly, so I guess we're ineligible after all."

"Don't give up yet, Blaze," Silver said optimistically, "we just need to keep up our hope. Maybe some kind of a miracle will happen."

"But we don't know anyone else to be our teammate, Silver," Blaze said. "Who do we know that could join us?"

Just then, there was a menacing voice from behind Silver and Blaze. "I'll join you," the voice replied.

Silver and Blaze turned around, and they saw a tall, red-and-black creature standing in front of them. It was Zavok, the former leader of the Deadly Six, and a Zeti from the Lost Hex high above the planet.

"Zavok?!" gasped Blaze.

"Yes, it is I, the mighty Zavok," Zavok declared. "But have no fear, for today, I don't come here to destroy you."

Silver frowned at Zavok because he was sure he was up to something. "What are you doing here?" he asked cautiously.

"I happened to overhear your conversation about Eggman and the World Grand Prix," explained Zavok, "so I followed you here to try and figure out what Eggman really is up to. Then, when I heard that you two needed a third teammate, I decided to offer my services to you… or rather, I am inviting you both to join _me,_ for I am a leader, not a follower."

"Why are you asking us to join you, Zavok?" asked Blaze. "You're a villain, and we don't trust you. Besides, you'd probably just double-cross us at one point or another."

Zavok looked down at Silver and Blaze, still holding a firm look upon his face. "You're right," he explained. "I am a villain, and I know you don't trust me. But if you two need a third member to join you to participate in the races, who else do you know?"

Silver and Blaze glanced at each other, and then at Dodon Pa. "Was Zavok sent an invitation?" Blaze asked.

"No, he wasn't," answered Omochao, "but that doesn't mean he's ineligible. If he's being sincere about joining your team, then you all would be eligible to race. You'll just all have to be able to work and trust each other as a team."

Silver and Blaze were still unsure what to do, so they turned back towards Zavok. "You're being serious about this, Zavok?" Blaze asked.

"Yes, I am," answered Zavok. "So, make your choice: Either join me or face it alone."

Blaze thought for a moment, and then she spoke to Silver quietly. Then, Blaze looked at Zavok. "Zavok, listen very carefully," she told him. "We will join you to form a team, but you have to promise us that we can trust you. That means you have to treat us with team respect, and no cheating or double-crossing us."

"If you take even one step out of line," added Silver, "we'll leave, and we don't care if it disqualifies us. If you're going to be on our side, then you have to be able to respect us. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Zavok raised his hands and shook his head. "Not at all," he answered.

"So, you can agree to our conditions?" Blaze asked him.

"Yes," answered Zavok. "I promise, no cheating, no foul play, and teamwork. But you must remember because you are joining me, I am this team's leader. As long as you promise to respect my leadership, I vow to respect you two as genuine teammates."

"Very well," Blaze responded, and then she turned back to Omochao. "Then the three of us shall enter as a team."

"Okay, then," replied Omochao, "just tell me, what is your team's name?"

Blaze and Silver thought, but they couldn't think of anything.

Then, Zavok spoke out. "Well, what about 'Hex'?" he suggested.

Blaze and Silver looked up at him in confusion. "Hex?" Blaze asked.

"It's my first idea," responded Zavok, "and the best I can think of without implying myself to be superior to you two."

"Well… I like it," said Silver.

"…So do I," Blaze agreed, and she looked back at Omochao. "So, that's that. We'll register as Team Hex."

"Very well, Team Hex," said Omochao, "you are now registered for the World Grand Prix." Then, he spoke to Zavok. "Now, Zavok, all we need you to do is be tested for an Extreme Gear if you don't have one."

"What must I do?" asked Zavok.

"Follow me," Omochao answered, and he led Zavok to the building Big had gone to before.

After Omochao and Zavok had left, Dodon Pa turned to Silver and Blaze. "Now you two may feel free to take up a position in front of the stage," he said to them, "and I'll get ready to start the opening ceremony." He immediately headed off towards the stage.

Silver and Blaze shrugged, and they walked over to an empty space beside Sonic's team.

When Silver and Blaze arrived, Sonic noticed them almost immediately. "Hey, Silver. Hey, Blaze," he said to them. "Did you guys enter the World Grand Prix, too?"

Blaze turned to Sonic. "Hello, Sonic," she said formally and respectfully. "Yes, we have. This was the very first time Silver and I have ever been invited to officially participate in Eggman's World Grand Prix, so we have decided to take it up."

"Where's your third member?" asked Tails. "And who is your third member, anyway?"

"Right now, he's being examined for a Gear," Silver explained. "And we joined up with Zavok."

Sonic gasped. "Zavok?!" he asked. "Why would you join him?!"

"Well, we didn't have any other people to ask," Blaze answered, "and he was looking into Eggman's competition on his own at first. He heard about us needing a third member, and we agreed to join him under the conditions that he will race fairly and respect us."

Knuckles looked unhappy. "That Zeti is a trickster, just like Eggman," he muttered. "Whenever he's involved, things only get worse."

"Yeah," agreed Sonic, "Zavok is a very untrustworthy person, and he doesn't work with anybody unless he has some gain from it."

"Thank you, Sonic," said Blaze, "but I believe that we can take care of it ourselves."

In a few minutes, Zavok came up to Silver and Blaze. He was holding a Board-type Extreme Gear which was colored red and black with some cyan marks, and he looked confident. "Hello, Silver and Blaze," he said to them. "I am now ready to assist you." Then, he saw Sonic. "Oh, hello Sonic," he responded coldly.

Before Silver or Blaze could say anything, Sonic stepped up to Zavok. "Hello, Zavok," he said to him, glaring suspiciously. "I hear from Silver and Blaze that you entered the Ex World Grand Prix. Is that true?"

Zavok didn't seem fazed by Sonic's stare. "Humph, of course, it is," he answered. "Why else would I be here, at an Ex World Grand Prix?"

Knuckles stared angrily at Zavok. "I just know you're up to something, Zavok, and I don't like it," he protested. "Obviously, you're working with Eggman on something devious."

"I am not Eggman's slave," Zavok calmly protested. "Only I am in charge of what I do."

Sonic didn't seem convinced. "Oh, is that so?" he asked. "I guess we'll just have to—" But before Sonic or Knuckles could step up to Zavok, Tails stepped between them.

"Wait, guys," he protested, "I think Zavok might be telling the truth."

"Zavok is a villain, and that's all there is to it," Knuckles declared. "I wouldn't believe that guy if he were the last person on Earth!"

"But what evidence do we have that he's really up to no good?" asked Tails. "I don't like this situation, either, but we don't really have a choice. We have to trust Silver and Blaze's word that Zavok is only here to participate."

Sonic didn't like the idea, but he had to admit that Tails was right. "Well… okay, Zavok," he said to him, "but I've got my eyes on you."

"And I've got _my_ eyes on Eggman," Zavok retorted. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some opponents to destroy."

Silver looked serious. "'Destroy'?" he asked. "Zavok, what'd we tell you?"

Zavok didn't flinch, but he cleared his throat. "Yes, and by 'destroy', I mean 'beat'," he declared. As he turned around, he thought to himself. "I must diminish my threats," he said to himself.

At last, Omochao flew up to the stage, holding a microphone. As he spoke into it, a large monitor directly above the stage displayed him on a much bigger scale as one of Eggman's E-10000 series robots recorded the event with a video camera.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the newest Ex World Grand Prix!" he declared. "As always, I'm your eye in the sky, Omochao, here to bring you all the action live as it happens. Now, I'd like to introduce the sponsor of the World Grand Prix right away. Meet the president of the intergalactic automobile company himself, Donpa Motors' own Dodon Pa!"

Dodon Pa stepped onto the stage from behind a curtain, and he walked over to a podium with a microphone on it. He tapped it gently, and then he began to speak.

"Greetings racers and viewers," he said, "I am Dodon Pa, the president of Donpa Motors, and sponsor of the Ex World Grand Prix. Our host, Dr. Eggman, could not manage to be here today, as unfortunate as it may be, so he has asked me to stand in for him. Now, before we get started, I'd like to explain a few things. The first is, in this Grand Prix we shall be introducing a new type of racing known as 'Team Racing'. In this, there are two different styles: The first is a relay race, in which racers from each team swap out every lap. The second style is where all teammates of competing teams race together for the best overall time. Now, without further ado, I'd like to show you all… the grand prize."

From behind the curtain, several green E-10000 robots came out. As they did, they were pulling a large table with a safe and a treasure chest, as well as the Master Emerald. They opened the safe and chest, revealing lots of treasure and cash money inside!

"The winning team overall receives a considerable cash prize, plus a chest full of treasure," Dodon Pa continued, "and to prove it is real this time, I have shown you all this now."

The robots closed the safe and chest, then they wheeled the table offstage.

"Now, there is something else I wish to address," Dodon Pa added. "It is that the races will take place over five rounds, and each round will consist of three races of two different teams. This essentially means every team will face each other in one of the rounds. Now, I'd like to show you all the roster lineups for the first round."

He pressed a button on a controller on his podium, and on the monitor above the stage, a large image appeared. There were the face images of all the teams divided across either side, and a light blue line connected the two teams directly across from each other for every pair.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were facing against Amy, Cream, and Big in the first race. Then Jet, Wave, and Storm were facing Espio, Charmy, and Vector in the second race. That left Shadow, Rouge, and Omega facing Blaze, Silver, and Zavok in the third race of the round.

Once the screen shut off, Dodon Pa began to float in his flying mobile towards the starting line. "Come, racers," he said, "we shall head off to the starting line of our first to get things started."

The racers all grabbed their Extreme Gears and climbed up the steep slope to the starting line, with Dodon Pa and Omochao leading them. The Ex World Grand Prix, sponsored by Dodon Pa, had officially begun.

Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman was inside a secret laboratory alongside his robotic assistants, Orbot and Cubot. He cackled menacingly as he walked around.

"Yes, yes, this is it," he grinned. "At long last, I will prove that I am the ultimate Extreme Gear racer and mechanical expert!"

"How do you propose you'll do that, boss?" asked Orbot.

Eggman grinned. "Using my newly-programmed E-10000 series robots to record the racers' data yet again, I shall have my three newest robots face off against the winning team in the finals, and I will claim the prize for myself! This way, even if my robots lose the race against the winning team, I'll defeat them with my own team, and I shall still claim victory!"

"So you're racing with us this time, boss?" asked Cubot hopefully.

Eggman glared down at him. "Of course not, you incompetent fools!" he declared. "The two of you are in charge of keeping the data I collect flowing into the robots." He pushed a button on a keyboard, and then a wall opened behind him. From it, there stood three robots that were models of the E-10000 series. One was blue, one was yellow, and the third was red.

"Are those the robots you are going to plug the data into, boss?" asked Orbot.

"Yes, they are," Eggman answered, "these are my once-rejected prototype E-10000 series racers. I had rejected them in favor of the green robots, but with the new flow of data I am having you two collect from those buffoons, they will soon be the ultimate Gear-jockey robots once and for all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Then, Eggman stepped out of the laboratory, leaving Orbot and Cubot alone with the robots.

As Cubot linked cables from the central machine up to each of the robots, he sighed unhappily. "Why does the boss always do this to us?" he groaned. "He always assigns us square tasks instead of acknowledging us as his faithful assistants, almost as if we're nothing but servants to him."

"Well, technically, we _are_ only servants to Dr. Eggman," Orbot pointed out, "but on the bright side, if we weren't good enough for him, we'd be replaced by more faithful and modern servants."

"Yeah, or we'd be in the scrap heap while Eggman has newer robots serve him instead," replied Cubot, "but either way, I guess that we're good enough for something."

Orbot shook his head because he didn't like how Cubot never understood his more logical vocabulary and just repeated it in simplified terms. But he knew that they were both right: They really were good enough for something, after all.


	4. Round One

At the starting line, the members of Team Heroes and Team Rose had lined up alongside each other, with the electrical gate at the edge active. From left to right facing forwards along the track, the order of the racers went Knuckles, Tails, Sonic, Amy, Cream, and Big. The first five held their Board Gears in their arms, which were respectively the Red Rock, Yellow Tail, Blue Star, Pink Rose, and Smile. Cheese floated in the air beside Cream, happy to be able to support his friend.

Big had a Bike-type Extreme Gear, which was one of Accelovice's strongest models to support Big's weight. It was colored primarily dark blue like him, but it also had Froggy embedded upon it. On the front was a moderately-sized, round plexiglass capsule filled with water, and the top of the capsule had a screen opening for air. Froggy was sitting inside it, watching everything. Big had named it the Froggy Lily.

Omochao flew to see the racers, and he began another announcement. "Okay, racers," said Omochao, "these first few races are each a standard team race, in which the team whose racers reach the finish line in the shortest amount of time after three laps wins."

Amy and Sonic glanced at each other and smiled. "Good luck, Amy," said Sonic.

"You too, Sonic," said Amy.

"So, if everybody's ready, I'll have the countdown commence," Omochao began, but then Big spoke up.

"Wait a minute," he said, "I'm still confused about something."

"What's that, Big?" asked Amy.

"How does this Gear thingy work?" asked Big.

"It's simple," answered Tails. "You just sit on it, and the Gear will move on its own. But you'll want to perform tricks off of ramps and smash obstacles as much as you can, or else you'll run out of Air. If you run out of Air, you'll have to run on foot until you can collect some more."

"If you can collect enough Rings, your Gear will improve its skills," added Sonic.

"Okay…" said Big, "I think I get it."

"So, do you think you're ready now, Mr. Big?" asked Cream.

"Yeah, I think so," said Big. "I'm ready, and Froggy is, too."

"Okay, then," said Omochao, "if we're all ready now, then let's get the race started." The race countdown began, and everyone started running towards the electrified gate, holding their Gears. Sonic was the first to pass the gate after it opened, followed by Amy, then Tails, Cream, Knuckles, and Big. As they did, they each jumped onto their Gears and began riding.

Riders of Extreme Gear were generally classified into three types: Speed, Flight, and Power. Speed-type riders' Gears had higher top speed, Flight-type riders' Gears had better acceleration rates, and Power-type riders' Gears lost less speed when traveling uphill or upon rough surfaces.

Sonic and Amy were both Speed-type riders, which allowed them to successfully grind along the rails spread along the track. Tails and Cream used the catapults and launch rings within the air to perform air ride techniques because they were both Flight-type riders. Knuckles and Big were able to bash through certain obstacles without slowing down and uncover shortcuts because they were Power-type riders.

During the race, Sonic and Amy ended up being pretty close to neck-and-neck. They each tried to get ahead of the other, but neither one could manage to get ahead for long. However, they each came to a capsule, and the capsules opened from the impact. Out from the capsules came two strange floating creatures. Sonic obtained a cyan one, and Amy got a white one.

Amy looked amazed upon seeing the creatures. "Are these… Wisps?" she asked.

Sonic grinned upon seeing them. "I'd recognize these little flying aliens anywhere," he said. "But I wonder why they're in Eggman's races? They don't work with evildoers."

"I don't know," Amy answered, "but maybe their Hyper-go-on energy can enhance our Extreme Gears even further?"

Sonic's Cyan Wisp fused with his Extreme Gear, and then the Hyper-go-on energy radiated into his body. In a flash of light, he shot forward at super-high speeds! As he did, he let out a whistle. "Wooo-hoo!" he called, his voice echoing down the track.

Amy grinned. "You're not the only one who can use Wisps, Sonic," she chuckled. "Let's see what I've got!"

Amy's White Wisp fused with her Gear, and then she shot forward in an Air Boost, just like from a Kick Dash! Her Air Boost was only as long as a standard one, but it didn't consume any of her Gear's Air by using it via the Wisp.

During the first two laps, everything seemed to go as usual in a race. But in the middle of the third lap, Big managed to get ahead of everyone by using his Gear's Air Boost. He hadn't smashed through very many obstacles or performed as many successful Air Tricks as the others, but he had been collecting some Rings here and there.

One minute, Big was confident he was going to win… but the next, he slowed down as his Gear ran low on Air, and he came to a stop. "Huh?" asked Big. "What… happened? Have I… run out of Air?" Then, he remembered that he could run until he regained Air. Fortunately, he saw a line of cars nearby, so he sprinted towards them, holding his Gear.

As Big plowed through the cars, his Gear's engine started up again as it became refueled. There were also a few Rings lined up behind the cars, so Big collected them as well. As he did, his Gear suddenly became faster and had better acceleration. His Gear had leveled up!

"Wow," said Big, "I'm doing it!"

Big stayed ahead of everyone else up to the last kicker before the finish line, but there was a very high leap to get up there.

"Oh, dear," Big said to himself. "How am I going to make that jump?" As Big thought, he suddenly rode through another Wisp capsule and collected an Orange Wisp. As the Wisp fused with Big's Gear, he suddenly shot forward, and once he hit the kicker, he launched himself and his Gear up into the air! With a massive leap, he made it all the way up to the top of the building and past the kicker up there, too!

Big landed on the ground just in front of the finish line, and he crossed over it right away. He hadn't had a whole lot of practice riding an Extreme Gear, but he had enough skills to ride it and stop, so he managed to stop on his own. As soon as he came to a stop, the Orange Wisp flew out of his Gear.

A few seconds later, Knuckles crossed the finish line, and then Cream and Tails followed him. When Knuckles came to a stop, he was surprised to see Big. "Big?" he gasped. "You… you got here first?!"

Cream stopped and looked at Big. "Wow, Mr. Big, you were really great," she said to him. "For your first time riding an Extreme Gear, you won the race!"

Big chuckled nervously. "Yeah… I guess I did," he said with a smile.

Finally, Amy and Sonic arrived. They were also surprised to see the scene.

"What's going on here?" Sonic asked.

"Big won his very first race on an Extreme Gear," said Tails.

"Yes, indeed," added Omochao. "And according to the rules, the winner of this race is Team Rose!"

Amy, Cream, and Cheese all smiled and cheered for Big, as he was the one who really earned the victory. Tails also looked happy for Big, even though he hadn't won the race.

But Knuckles didn't look happy at all. "How could this happen?" he muttered. "I'm here to get the Master Emerald back, and we already lost to a newcomer."

Sonic wasn't so enthusiastic about losing, either, but he still looked happy for Big. "Don't sweat it, Knuckles," he said, "at least we lost to someone who wouldn't steal the Master Emerald from you."

That made Knuckles feel a little better. "Well… yeah, I guess that's true," he agreed. "Besides, there's still the next round."

After Sonic, Amy, and their teammates stepped aside, Jet and his gang stepped up to the starting line, alongside Vector's crew, and they waited for the countdown to begin. The Babylon Rogues' Gears were the Type-J for Jet, the Type-W for Wave, and the Type-S for Storm, which had all been finely tuned by Wave for the whole event. Vector had his Bike Gear, which he had named the Hard-Boiled. Espio had a purple- and gray-colored Board Gear with several ninja stars painted onto it, and Charmy had an orange Board Gear with flowers imprinted upon it. Their Gears had been named the Shuriken and the Flower, respectively.

Jet noticed the Wisp Big had collected earlier still drifting above him, and a few more from before were there, too, and even one White Wisp with a short piece of hair was there, too. "What are these things?" he asked. "They're so colorful and they are floating."

Wave looked up at them. "I've heard only a little bit about these guys, Jet," she answered. "They're a race of beings known as 'Wisps', and their life source is a really powerful energy called 'Hyper-go-on'. They can fuse with other living entities and grant them only a taste of their nearly limitless powers. But they don't like being mistreated."

"Wow," said Storm, "these lisp things sound pretty powerful."

Wave frowned at Storm. "No, Storm," she groaned, "not 'lisps', _'Wisps'!_"

"Oh," said Storm, "I meant that."

The White Wisp with the piece of hair flew around Storm's head, making strange movements. He flew around so much, Storm almost got dizzy.

Then, Tails called out to him. "Yacker!" he called.

The Wisp heard Tails, and then he made a bunch of happy squeaky noises as he flew to Tails. As Yacker continued speaking in his Wisp language, Tails pulled out his handheld device, set it to translator mode, and pointed its satellite dish-like piece at Yacker's body. "Good thing I brought this, too," he replied.

"What is that Wisp saying?" asked Jet.

Tails grinned at Jet. "This is Yacker," said Tails. "He's saying that Dodon Pa offered him and the Wisps a chance to help out with this World Grand Prix to make it more entertaining. The Wisps all agreed because they thought it sounded like fun."

Wave grinned. "Not bad, shorty," she said to Tails. "Not bad at all."

But Charmy was becoming impatient. "Okay, okay!" he declared. "So the Wisps are helping us out. Can't we just get started? I really want to get going!"

"Calm down, Charmy," Espio told him. "Just wait for the countdown, and then we'll be going."

"Okay, everyone," said Omochao, "if you are all ready, then let's get started!"

The countdown began, and the six new racers zoomed off down the track. The wind they left behind blasted through everyone else's faces as they each wished to win.

Like before, Teams Chaotix and Babylon collected Wisps to help them through their race. There were Wisps of a bunch of different colors everywhere to be found: white, yellow, cyan, orange, pink, black, jade, magenta, red, violet, ivory, indigo, blue, green, crimson, purple, and gray. Each of the Wisps granted their collectors a portion of their Hyper-go-on powers, and they granted a number of different effects to the racers. Some Wisps functioned as attacks, some assisted with Gear capabilities, and some assisted in item and Ring collection. The Babylon Rogues had a hard time at first adjusting to the Wisps' incredible power, but once they got the hang of it, they managed to use it to their advantage.

By the end of the third lap, Espio was well ahead of everyone. When Vector and Charmy caught up to him, the three of them crossed the finish line one after the other, winning the race!

Jet, Wave, and Storm came in only a few seconds later to see their opponents smile in victory, and they looked unhappy. "Aw, dang it," Storm complained, "those guys got all the good lisps and beat us effortlessly."

Wave looked annoyed. "_Wisps_, Storm, not 'lisps'," she stated.

"Whatever," Storm retorted. "The point is, we're more skilled at Extreme Gear than they are so how come they won against us?"

"I don't know," Wave answered. "I guess it's just bad luck."

Jet and his gang grinned at Vector and the Chaotix. "Not bad, Vector," he said, "but you guys had good luck this time. If you want to win this whole shebang, you'll have to put in more work than that."

Vector snarled at Jet. "You think that you're so good, don't you?" he growled.

Storm chuckled. "That's right, green guy," he replied. "We might have lost this time, but you still ain't a match for the Babylon Rogues!"

When Teams Babylon and Chaotix had finished the race, they stood aside to allow the last two teams, Teams Dark and Hex, to come up to the starting line. Blaze and Silver held their Board Gears, the Flame Lance and Psychic Wave, Shadow's Gear was his Black Shot, and Rouge had her Gear, the Temptation. Omega's Gear was now repainted red, black, and yellow, and he had imprinted the omega symbol upon it. As he had declared before, he was calling it the E-Gear 123.

Zavok glanced at Omega and his Extreme Gear. "Not bad, Omega," he declared, "for a random Eggman robot that had been neglected and left to rot." Then, he showed Omega his own Gear. "But don't think your stolen model is any match for my customized Gear: I call it the Air Dragoon, based off of my car from Dodon Pa's races."

"Zeti are not any more powerful than I am, Zavok," retorted Omega. "Your innate magneto-kinetic powers do not affect my body, for I am the most powerful robot to have ever existed, and I am immune to any form of external force influencing me."

Shadow stared suspiciously at Zavok, and then he spoke to Silver and Blaze. "Are you sure this guy isn't gonna double-cross you?" he asked. "He did race with Eggman at Dodon Pa's race, after all."

"I cannot say for sure, Shadow," Blaze answered, "because we don't trust him completely, either."

"So far, we only joined Zavok because we needed a third member to enter the Grand Prix," Silver explained, "and we wanted to participate this time because we were invited, and we hadn't participated in an official Extreme Gear competition before."

"Nor have many of us, Silver," Rouge put in. "Shadow and I asked Omega to join us because he's our friend, and last time we ended up using a much less useful robot as our third teammate."

Blaze stared at Omega and Zavok, who were still staring each other down. "Those two sure don't believe the other is more powerful than they are," she sighed. "I only hope we can keep them from obliterating each other."

Shadow called out to Omega. "Omega, come on!" he declared. "We've got to get this race started!"

Omega walked towards Shadow holding his Gear, but he still stared Zavok down. "You'll soon see my power, Zavok," he told him. "My power succeeds any and all meatbags, Zeti or not."

Zavok sighed and walked to his position. "I am the Ultimate Zeti, Omega," he muttered. "Soon enough, you shall see." Zavok stepped next to Silver and turned towards the gate.

Omochao flew in front of everyone and began to speak. "Okay, racers," he announced, "now, let's begin the third race of the first round. Once we have finished, we shall move on to the next round, so let's get to it!"

The six racers waited on their Gears for the countdown, and once it finished, they all blasted off.

Three laps later, Zavok was the first one to cross the finish line, closely followed by his teammates, and then Team Dark. Once he stopped, he began to brag. "Oh, that's right!" Zavok declared, pounding his fists. "I win this race." But then, he heard Blaze clear her throat.

Zavok turned his head and saw Silver and Blaze staring at him, unamused. "Uh, I mean, _we_ win this race," he said, still sounding like how he usually did, and he reached his hand out. "Right, guys?"

Silver and Blaze glanced at each other, and then they each shook Zavok's hand. "Right," agreed Silver.

Then, Omochao spoke up again. "Congratulations, everyone," he said cheerfully. "It was an exciting first round. Now that everyone's finished, let's move on to round two!"

Dodon Pa began floating in his flying vehicle, and he showed the racers a holographic image of a sunny beach that had buoys lining a course along the water. "Our next round will take place at Seaside Hill," he declared. Then, six hovering vehicles arrived at the racetrack. "Every team just needs to hop into one of these hovercars, and we shall head there right away."

Every team grabbed their Extreme Gears and climbed into one of the hovering cars. Once all the teammates were inside, the cars drove on their own towards their next destination, where the next race would take place.


	5. Round Two

In half an hour, the racers all arrived at the islands of Seaside Hill. The cars came to a stop on the beach of the portion connected to the mainland, and the racers all climbed out.

Sonic glanced around, and he let out a whistle. "Wow, this place looks very beautiful today, doesn't it?" he said.

"Yeah, I agree, Sonic," responded Amy. "It feels so warm and so cool at the same time."

"It sure does, Amy," Cream agreed. "I like this weather."

Dodon Pa and Omochao came in front of everyone, and Omochao began to speak again. "Okay, everyone," he declared, "I hope you're all ready for the second round of the World Grand Prix! Our next races will take place here at Seaside Hill, so let's head over to the starting position, which is just over here."

The two of them headed towards a nearby starting gate, near where a bunch of Chao and Wisps were sitting in a big group, under a shady palm tree. Everyone else followed them there.

Once they arrived at the starting gate, everyone was wondering how they would get started. "So who's racing whom this time?" asked Tails.

"Team Heroes will face Team Chaotix, Team Dark will face Team Babylon, and Team Rose will face Team Hex, in that order," answered Omochao. "Like the last round, this round works so the team whose three racers reach the finish line first will win the race."

Sonic and Vector lined their teams up at the starting line, and they waited for the countdown. As they did, Sonic grinned at Vector's team. "You guys are doing pretty good," he said, and then he looked at Espio. "You're pretty good for your first time riding a Gear, Espio."

Espio grinned slightly. "A ninja such as myself must be prepared for anything," he responded calmly. "I do not hesitate when it comes to showing my skills."

But Charmy was more enthusiastic, as usual. "This is gonna be fun!" he declared. "I can hardly wait to race some more on this board thingy!"

But Tails looked concerned. "Charmy, riding an Extreme Gear isn't just fun and games, you know," he warned him. "It takes a lot of practice to fully master it, and you haven't been at it for as long as we have."

"Don't sweat it, Tails," said Vector. "The boys and I have gotten in enough practice to ride decently. Now, we just have to put in enough effort to win the cash prize!"

Knuckles sighed quietly as he shook his head. "Oh, how typical," he muttered, "always trying to do anything you can just to win that money."

Omochao pointed towards the island shaped like a whale in the distance. "The track for this race leads over to Whale Island," he answered, "and on the island is a machine-made geyser which will launch you all the way back to here."

"Sounds good to me," said Sonic. "Let's get it started!"

The countdown reached zero, and the six riders rocketed off towards Whale Island.

As Sonic and Espio rode along grind rails that were connected to several structures, Tails and Charmy flew across certain gaps, and Knuckles and Vector smashed several of the moving ruins to reveal shortcuts. Sonic was in the lead for the first lap, but Espio followed him very closely.

Espio came neck-to-neck with Sonic, and the two of them gradually approached the Whale Island's tail.

"Do you think," Sonic asked, "that we'll make this jump, Espio?"

"Well, I can't say for sure," Espio responded, "but a true air master could make leaps tougher than this any time. Let me show you, Sonic." Espio gave his Gear an Air Boost, and he shot up the tail of the island, then did an Air Trick off of the edge. The momentum from the Trick launched Espio back towards the center of the island. He passed over a tall structure at the top of the island where a whale's blowhole would be, and a blast of water shot him and his Gear sky high! The force of the water shot him all the way back to the start of the track, turning him around to face the direction of the track, and allowing him to reach the next lap.

Sonic whistled as he saw Espio make the insane Trick, but when he tried to do the same thing, he missed it at the last second and didn't reach the geyser. Fortunately, there was a catapult just beyond the geyser, so Sonic made his way around the structure and onto it. The catapult shot Sonic and his Gear back to the starting line, but Sonic had to turn around on his own at a hairpin turn when he hit the ground.

"Shoot," muttered Sonic, "I'll never catch up to Espio at this rate."

By the end of the third lap, Espio was ahead of everyone else. He crossed the finish line first, with Sonic close behind him. Vector and Charmy finished before Tails and Knuckles, making Team Chaotix the winner.

Espio stood and remained calm, but Vector patted him on the shoulder. "Nice racing, Espio," he said gratefully. "You earned us another victory!"

"Yeah, great going!" added Charmy. "And you said you didn't think this was a good idea," he added in a teasing manner.

Espio looked away for a moment and breathed deeply. So far, nothing suspicious had occurred, but he was still wary of what was to come. "Well, I'll admit, things have worked out so far," he replied.

But Knuckles looked even angrier than he had before. "Dang it!" he snarled. "That's two losses in a row. How the heck am I going to get the Master Emerald back at this rate?!"

Shadow let out a grunt. "Beginners' luck, I'd say," he responded. "Now, step aside and let some superior racers through."

Rouge chuckled and winked at Knuckles again, which made him flinch in embarrassment. "Catch up if you can, sugar," she said flirtingly to Knuckles, gently and playfully touching his nose.

Before Knuckles could do anything rash, Sonic and Tails held him back until he had calmed down. "Yeesh, Knuckles," said Sonic, "what does it take to get ya to chillax these days?"

Knuckles frowned, unamused. "Sonic, you know I have to win this Grand Prix," he responded. "It's my duty to guard the Master Emerald with my life."

"What about all those times you leave it _un_guarded, Knuckles?" chuckled Rouge.

Knuckles clenched his fists in rage, not liking being teased.

"Knuckles, calm down," said Tails. "You aren't going to get the Master Emerald back by force this time."

Knuckles took a deep breath, and then he relentlessly stepped backward. "Oh, fine," he muttered. He didn't like the situation, but there currently was little he could do.

The second race involved Team Dark racing against Team Babylon. Both Shadow and Jet were very confident in their abilities to win the race, but as they lined up, Jet scoffed to Shadow. "Don't expect us to go as easy on you as those guys did before, Shadow," he said cockily. "We, the Babylon Rogues, have much more skill on Extreme Gear from our ancestry any day."

Shadow glared at Jet, dismissing his confidence. "Do you know who I really am? I'm the Ultimate Life Form," he declared, "and I could single-handedly beat you Babylon Rogues at your own game."

"'Ultimate Life Form', are you?" Jet asked, still sounding unintimidated.

Storm cackled. "Ultimate or not, you're no match for us!"

"And _you're_ no match for me," declared Omega. "I am the Ultimate Robot."

Storm walked up to Omega and laughed at him, too. "Yeah, right," he taunted, "the Babylon Rogues don't stand up to a robot, especially one like you."

Omega thought Storm was being serious, so he sounded pleased as he spoke. "Why thank you," he said. "I am glad you acknowledge my superiority."

Wave laughed out loud. "You don't get sarcasm, do you?" she called to Omega. "Storm meant the exact opposite of what he said. He may be a dimwit, but he knows that you're just a robot."

That made Storm get angry. "Hey! Who you callin' a dimwit, Wave?!" he declared. "I might be big, but I ain't stupid!"

Wave snickered quietly at Storm. "Yeah, okay," she muttered, "you're right, Storm."

But Omega didn't seem fazed. "You will soon bear witness to my true power," he declared. "I cannot be defeated by inferior life forms or robots, be it on Extreme Gear or anything else." Then, he pointed at the Babylon Rogues. "You all had better prepare to be eradicated because you will be."

"Bring it on, robot," declared Jet. "Let's just see who really is the best."

The two teams lined up once more, and then in a few seconds, the countdown started, and everyone was ready to go. Once the countdown had finished, the six of them sped away.

For most of the first lap, Jet, Wave, and Storm were very close together and ahead of everyone else. Once they reached the island partway through the second lap, they glanced behind them and didn't see anyone behind them.

Jet snickered. "Did that robot think he stood a chance against us?" he replied.

"Aw, it looks like that robot isn't so 'ultimate' after all," Wave said tauntingly. "I suppose he and his team aren't going to win after all, not with data like that, it seems."

"Guess again," a robotic voice rebutted. Before the Babylon Rogues could say anything, something nearly hit them from behind! The Babylon Rogues scattered from the projectile from behind them, and Omega rode up to them on his Extreme Gear. Shadow and Rouge rode beside him on their own Gears as well.

Storm became so angry, he tried to punch Omega's body in retaliation. But instead, his fist recoiled back to himself, and he shook it in pain. "Ow!" he groaned. "That guy is pretty tough."

"Ugh, unbelievable," sighed Wave, "I'll have to fix this myself." She accelerated towards the loop, but Rouge caught up to her.

"Want to see how a real lady races?" asked Rouge, and she shot up the loop. She jumped off of it and did an upside-down trick off the ramp, and she landed on the geyser easily! Without any time lost, she was shot towards the starting line.

"I can do that, too," scoffed Wave, but when she tried the same trick, she suddenly lost her balance! Wave grabbed her Gear as she fell short of the geyser and hit the grassy ground near the tail. She wasn't hurt, but it allowed everyone else to overtake her quickly.

Omega looked down at Wave and then at Jet and Storm. "See you Babylon Birdbrains in the loser's circle," he called, and he shot on ahead with his team.

Wave got back on her Gear and raced towards the catapult. She, Jet, and Storm now were more determined than ever to beat Shadow's team, so they followed them as fast as they could. Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough.

At the end of the third lap, Shadow crossed the finish line first, closely followed by Omega and Rouge. The three of them skidded to a stop and turned around, and the Babylon Rogues came up behind them.

"Heh," chuckled Shadow, "it looks like you were wrong after all. You couldn't touch us out there."

Jet looked very unhappy. "Man, something's wrong with my game today," he muttered, "that's two losses in a row!"

Wave looked worried as she looked at her Gear. "My tuning was at its absolute best," she responded. "I have no idea what went wrong out there."

Storm seemed even more upset. "This must be bad luck," he moaned. "I guess our Extreme Gear skills are falling behind."

Now Wave glared at Storm, looking annoyed. "More like _your_ skills are falling behind, Storm," she told him. "Perhaps if you hadn't tried punching that robot before, we may have finished at least in a better time."

Now, Storm was annoyed. "Oh, sure, it's always my fault," he argued, "but don't forget that _you_ slipped off that loop before the geyser on the second lap, letting the little batgirl and her team overtake you!"

Storm and Wave began to argue, but Jet stopped them from escalating their fight. "Oh, knock it off!" he shouted, and his friends looked at him in surprise. Once Wave and Storm had stopped, Jet started speaking more calmly again. "You two are missing the important thing here."

Wave looked puzzled. "…What important thing, Jet?" she asked.

"That we aren't going to get any closer to winning this competition by arguing like this," Jet explained. "If we want to win, we have to work as a team, not as a freak show."

Wave and Storm glanced at each other, and then back at Jet. "Sorry, Jet," they said together, looking ashamed.

"Thank you," said Jet calmly. "Now, can we please be more supportive of each other?"

Reluctantly, Storm apologized to Wave for criticizing her, and Wave apologized to Storm for teasing him. They weren't happy about losing two consecutive rounds, but they still wanted to win as a team… and they still wanted to win alongside their friend, Jet.

At last, Blaze spoke up. "Okay, now if your little fracas is over, we still have a third race to do," she said, looking annoyed.

Omochao remained optimistic. "You're right, Blaze," he responded, "the third race of this round is between Team Rose and Team Hex."

Amy smiled at Sonic as she and her team began to line up, along with Silver, Blaze, and Zavok. "I hope you're ready to see some skills made from love, Sonic," Amy said to him, "because I'm the best there is at that! And it's all because of you."

Sonic chuckled nervously as Amy winked at him. She had lately been acting far more maturely than the first time she had ever met him, and while that made their friendship improve, it did make Sonic realize that he and Amy had similar competitive spirits. But despite everything that they ever went through, the one thing about Amy that would never change was that she loved Sonic so much that she wanted to marry him one day… soon.

But as the teams began to line up, Cream began to look nervous. Blaze noticed it, so she went to her and spoke to her. "What's wrong, Cream?" she asked.

"Oh, Blaze," Cream whispered, "I'm worried about Mr. Zavok. I've heard that he's evil from Sonic and Tails, and he looks very scary."

Blaze looked back towards Zavok, and then she spoke to Cream again. "Well, Silver and I don't fully trust him yet, either," she told her. "Just try not to worry about it, okay? If anything happens, we'll take care of it."

Cream still looked unsure, but she managed to calm down a little. "Well, okay," she said.

Blaze and Cream headed to their positions. As Cream came to her position, she thought about what Blaze had said, and she tried to stop worrying. But because Zavok was big and intimidating, it was still scary for her to be within range of him.

Omochao flew in front of the racers, and he spoke out to them. "Okay, everyone," he said, "this is the last race of this round, so let's see what happens this time!"

The countdown began, and then once it expired, the racers all shot away.

As Team Rose and Team Hex raced along the track, each of them felt excitement rising inside of them. Big and Zavok relied on their massive bulk to help them smash through the Power-type barricades, Amy and Blaze relied on their great speed stats and balance to maneuver along the Speed-type grind rails, and Silver flew through the Flight-type shortcuts by channeling his psychokinesis onto himself.

As Cream raced along, Cheese stayed beside her, cheering her on. While he did, it made Cream feel much more confident about racing in her second World Grand Prix, and it allowed her to concentrate better.

By the end of the third lap, Cream and Cheese had crossed the finish line first, with Amy and Blaze following her. Then came Silver, Big, and finally Zavok.

Cream began to cheer as her friends came up. "Hooray!" she cried. "I did it! I won the race!"

Amy looked very happy for Cream. "Great racing, Cream!" she declared happily. "You are really good at this."

Zavok didn't seem very happy, but he smiled. "Yeah, not bad at all," he said reluctantly. "For a little girl, you've sure got quite the skills."

Cream noticed Zavok was talking to her, which made her a little nervous. "Do you… mean that, Mr. Zavok?" she asked. "I heard that you were big and scary."

"Yes, I am known for that," Zavok replied, "but I do give praise where it is deserved, especially to those much younger than myself."

Cream felt a little better hearing Zavok tell her that, so she managed to calm down a little.

Omochao flew up to the starting gate and spoke into his microphone again. "So, at the end of the second round, Team Rose has taken first!" he declared.

But Amy suddenly looked worn out. "Can we… take a break?" she panted breathlessly. "I'm feeling a little… tired."

"I agree, Amy," said Blaze, "we have been racing harder than we were before. I believe we could use a break."

This time, Dodon Pa answered. "Very well, then," he declared, "you all may have a break. Besides, my assistant and I must prepare something for the next round. So, you all may take an hour off for rest, and then we shall resume the races once we are ready."

"Sounds good to me," said Sonic.

"So, we'll see you in an hour!" declared Omochao. "Buh-bye!" Omochao flew over to Dodon Pa and landed on his flying machine, and the two of them flew away.

Sonic and all his friends and rivals saw the wide-open beach nearby with plenty of shade and space to relax in. They all managed to take their Extreme Gears with them, and they set off to have a rest. They were going to need to be well-rested to continue racing effectively, and Seaside Hill was the best place to relax.


	6. R&R

Over on the beach, the six competing teams had gone to separate sections to enjoy their hour of rest. Some of the team members focused on tuning their teammates' Extreme Gear before the next race, and some were either sitting in the sand or under the shade of the palm trees on the beach.

Under one of the palm trees, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were together. Tails was checking his team's Gears and tuning them up, but Knuckles slouched against the tree. He looked very glum.

Sonic didn't like seeing Knuckles so unhappy, even though they had their scuffles from time to time. "Knuckles, why do you look so depressed?" he asked.

Knuckles glared at Sonic, but he didn't raise his voice. "Why do you think I am?" he asked. "I'm the only one in the whole world who should have possession of the Master Emerald, and Dodon Pa has stolen it to use as the prize in the Grand Prix. I only entered to win and get it back, but as it is now, we aren't doing so good."

"So, what difference does it make?" asked Sonic. "We've still got time to take it back. Besides, there are three rounds left."

"Yeah, but we haven't faced Rouge or the Babylon Rogues yet, Sonic," said Knuckles. "We already know that they're treasure hunters, and they're after the Master Emerald, too."

"And Shadow is our next biggest worry after them," added Tails. "He's incredibly skilled, and with his powers, he might be unbeatable."

Sonic just grinned. "Oh, I'm not worried about Shadow," said Sonic. "The one I'm really worried about is Zavok. If he's working with Blaze and Silver, who knows what he might try."

"That's true," Tails responded. "Zavok is menacing, but we still don't have any proof that he's trying anything sneaky. And it wouldn't be right to just accuse him of something without any leads."

Sonic just shrugged. "You're right, buddy," he said. "I just hope we're not too late to stop him if it does happen."

Meanwhile, Jet was pacing around on his own, without his team. He didn't look happy at all. As he did, he grumbled quietly to himself. He took a turn and saw Sonic a fair distance away from him, and he seemed to be pretty calm.

Jet glared at Sonic. "You just wait, Sonic the Hedgehog," he stated quietly. "I'll make sure Wave gives our Gears the best tuning job she's ever done, and then you'll see just who's really the fastest creature in the world!" Then, he turned around and headed back towards his team.

But as Jet made his way back, he started thinking about Dodon Pa. He still didn't trust the tenacious Tanuki or his motives, and he also still doubted whether he was working with Eggman or not. But because he didn't have any leads or evidence, he had to accept things as they were.

Soon, Jet came back to Wave. She was kneeling down on the sand, looking over Jet's, Storm's, and her own Gears all at once. But as she worked, she looked sweaty and agitated.

"Well, Wave," Jet asked, "have you figured anything out yet? I'm getting uneasy."

Wave looked at Jet, but she frowned. "Would you just hang on for a minute, Jet?" she grumped. "I'm trying my best to see what's wrong with our Gear."

"Well, try harder," retorted Storm. "What do you think you're here to do, dawdle?"

Wave tried to ignore Storm, but she was so agitated, she finally snapped. "Okay, Storm, what ideas do _you_ have?!" she declared angrily. "I can't work any harder than what is my best!"

"Then maybe your 'best' isn't your 'best' anymore," Storm chuckled. But as he laughed at Wave, she looked even angrier than ever.

Wave had had enough being teased for one day, but before she said anything, she heard a voice:

"Hey, what's going on here?"

The Babylon Rogues looked towards the sound, and they saw Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had come over to them.

Jet groaned. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Well, what _I_ want is some peace and quiet," Knuckles answered grumpily, "but I can't get that because of your bickering. Seriously, we can hear you all the way from our spot."

"Well, sorry," Wave grouched sarcastically, "but you're not the only one who's had enough of our antics for now."

"What's wrong, Wave?" asked Tails.

"I've taken our Gears apart completely and put them back together, and I still don't know what's wrong with them," Wave answered.

"Well, you look like you're working too hard," said Tails. "Maybe you should take a break from your tuning for a while."

Wave looked directly at Tails, still angry. "Look, shrimp," she said unkindly to him, "I don't know what's wrong with my Gear or those of Jet and Storm, but I _do_ know that I don't take orders from anyone, especially you. Now, why don't you go pick on someone your own size?"

Tails looked hurt, so Sonic remained calm as he stood up for his friend. "The only one who's picking on anyone around here is _you_, Wave," he said to her. "Tails was just giving you some advice, and you just rudely brushed it aside."

"I don't need anyone giving me any advice, Sonic," Wave said bluntly. "I can make my own decisions for myself."

"Then maybe you should think about your decisions before doing them," Knuckles firmly declared. "Now, keep it down!" Without even a pause, he turned around and stomped away.

Sonic and Tails didn't say a word. They just followed Knuckles, also looking disappointed.

As Sonic and Tails walked away, Wave thought for a moment about what Sonic had said. "Maybe that shrimp is right," she said to herself, "maybe I should take a break." So, she spoke to Jet. "Hey Jet, do you mind if I take a break for a little while?"

"Why?" asked Jet.

Wave bit her lower beak before she answered. "Because… I think you and Storm could use one, too," she said nervously, but she lied. The real reason why she lied to Jet was that Tails had a valid point, but she didn't want to admit that was the reason why. She didn't like to admit that she was wrong.

Jet thought for a minute, and then he answered. "Fine, whatever you want," he relented. "Just make sure our Gears are working again by the time the next race starts."

"Thanks, Jet, I will," Wave said, and she stepped away. As she walked away from her teammates, she dragged her feet through the sand, not paying much attention to where she was going. She felt her forehead becoming drier as she took slow, deep breaths, and now she felt much more relieved. "Well, I don't like to admit it," she thought, "but maybe that shrimp-… No, maybe Tails was right after all."

Down near the edge of the water, Cream and Big were sitting together. Cream had taken her shoes off and had dipped her feet into the water, and Big was nonchalantly fishing with his rod. Froggy sat next to Big, outside of the water capsule, catching flies with his tongue as they flew past. Cheese was sitting between Cream and Big, staring out across the water.

Cream looked up at Big. "So, Mr. Big, what do you think?"

Big looked down at Cream. "Of what?" he asked.

"Of the World Grand Prix," answered Cream. "I like it, and so do Amy and Sonic."

"Well… it's fun but different than what I usually enjoy," Big answered. "I'm happy I can have some time for fishing right now." Then, he looked down at Froggy. "And I'm glad that this time, Froggy can be here with me."

Froggy grinned at Big, happy to be with his friend for once.

Suddenly, Big felt something pull on his line. It pulled hard, but Big wouldn't let go. "Whoa, whoa!" he gasped. "I've got something!"

Big pulled as hard as he could on the fishing pole… and then something flew out of the water! Big rolled onto his back from the effort, and the thing from the water landed on his tummy. It was red and black, and it looked like a rock, but it didn't look like anything he had ever seen before.

Big sat upright and held onto the rock. "What is this doing here?" he asked.

"What is it, Mr. Big?" asked Cream.

Big showed Cream the rock. "I don't know what it is," he answered. "I was just fishing, and I caught it. But I don't know why it's here, or what it is."

"I don't know, Mr. Big," answered Cream, but then she saw something else. "Hey, what's that?" she asked.

"What?" Big asked, but then he saw what it was. Dangling from a piece of string that had gotten caught on Big's fishing line was a white envelope, which was now soggy from the seawater. "Oh," he said, "it looks like a letter… and it looks like it's for you, Cream." He gave the envelope to Cream.

"A letter for me?" Cream wondered. "But why is it all the way out here?" Cream opened the letter up and took a folded piece of laminated paper from the envelope. She unfolded the piece of paper, and on the inside was a message:

"Dear Cream, I heard all about you and your friends entering the World Grand Prix, so I asked Cheese to bring this letter to you. The event is being televised, so I will be watching you and cheering for you the whole time. Whether you win or lose, as long as you try your best, I am very proud of you. Do your best, sweetie. Love, Mama."

Cream smiled tearfully as she read the message, and then she hugged the letter. "Oh, Mommy," she thought, "thank you."

But Big looked confused. "Wait, if he was bringing the letter to you, how did it get all the way out here, in the ocean?" he asked.

Cheese squeaked shamefully in response. As he did, Cream seemed to understand him, and she looked sorry for him.

"Oh," she said sweetly, "Cheese says he was bringing it with us this morning, but the wind blew it out of his hands, and he thought he lost it." Then she looked down at Cheese, who was frowning a little. "Oh, Cheese," she said to her Chao, "I understand. Thank you for trying to hold onto it for me."

Cheese felt better, so he smiled and hugged Cream.

Cream smiled at her friend, so she hugged him, too. She was happy that Cheese was always beside her, and she was happy that he tried to hold onto her letter. But she could never be angry at him, especially because of her big heart.

Froggy hopped onto Big's head, also happy to be with his owner. For a long time, Froggy had evaded Big, making him go searching for him. But now, Froggy was staying alongside Big for once, and Big was happy to be able to share the fun he was having with Froggy.

Big stared at the rock he caught, and he just placed it on the seat of his Gear. What he didn't know was that the rock was something more dangerous… It was a Phantom Ruby prototype!

Near the edge of a cliff, Vector was standing alone. He was tapping his foot impatiently and looking rather irritated. "Sheesh, where are Espio and Charmy?" he wondered. "I thought they'd be back by now."

At that moment, Espio and Charmy came up to Vector, on their Extreme Gears. "Vector, we're back," said Espio.

Vector looked at his friends. "Find anything, boys?" he asked. "Any evidence to whether this is just another scam by the doctor?"

"No," answered Espio calmly. "We've found Eggman's secret HQ for this Grand Prix, but we weren't able to enter it. The door is locked down tight."

"Yeah, that door isn't gonna open for anything," added Charmy.

Vector shook his head and sighed. "Well, I guess we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way," he told them. "Try to find Eggman and see what he's up to, but be back here in time for the next race."

"Yes, sir!" Charmy declared. He was about to fly away on his Gear, but Vector grabbed him by his arm.

"And remember," Vector warned him, "don't cause any trouble. We're also here to win this tournament."

"Got it!" Charmy declared, and he broke free and flew away.

Espio sighed and shook his head. "Oh, Charmy," he muttered, and he headed off after him on his Extreme Gear.

Further down on the beach, Amy was laying in the sun by herself. Her eyes were closed, and she was snoring softly. She seemed to be taking a nap.

Sonic walked by, but not without noticing her. "How cute," Sonic whispered to himself, "I have to admit, Amy does look pretty cute when she's asleep."

Then, Amy started talking, but it was barely audible. "Sonic," she mumbled sleepily, "Sonic, you are the sweetest… I do… I do take you as my lawfully wedded husband…" She let out a chuckling snort, and then she started snoring again.

Sonic was about to walk away, but then he heard a noise that he feared:

"Oh, no you don't, Sonic! Come back here!"

Sonic turned around, and Amy pulled out her hammer in her sleep! She began swinging it around, not knowing she was doing it.

"Uh-oh… I'd better wake her up before she does something bad…" Sonic cautiously walked closer to Amy. But as he did, Amy suddenly swung her hammer and hit Sonic right in the face! "Ow!" he called.

At that moment, Amy woke up right away. "Sonic?" she asked. She rolled her eyes around, but she didn't see him. Then, she looked up and saw her hammer in her hands. Immediately, she turned to her right and saw Sonic, and she stood up. "Oh, my gosh! Sonic!" she gasped. "What happened?"

Sonic looked unhappy as he answered Amy. "You swung your hammer in your sleep, and you hit me in my face!" he answered. As he answered, he clutched his face in his hands.

Amy froze in horror, and then she looked ready to cry. "Oh, Sonic," she said, "I'm so, so, so sorry! I didn't know what I was doing!"

"Yeah, I can tell," Sonic muttered.

"Can I see where I hit you, Sonic?" asked Amy.

Sonic removed his hands from his face and revealed his aching face. His eye had been slightly bruised and was tearing up, but it wasn't anything worse than that.

Amy looked at Sonic's face, and she suddenly looked desperate. "Oh, Sonic, please don't be angry at me," she begged to him. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm so, so sorry." Amy was so upset, she buried her face in her hands and waited for Sonic to get angry.

Sonic saw that Amy was sorry, so he looked and sounded less angry. "Oh, don't worry about it," he said. "It was an accident."

Amy looked up at Sonic. "You're not mad?" she asked.

Sonic frowned. "No, I'm not angry… But I heard everything you said."

Amy looked confused. "What'd I say?" she asked.

"You were sleep-talking," Sonic said. "You were talking about taking me as your 'lawfully wedded husband', and that was when you struck me."

Amy blushed, but she still looked unhappy. "Sorry, Sonic," she said to him. "I've been trying to control my affection towards you around other people… but when we're alone, together, or alone together, I just can't help it."

Sonic scratched his head embarrassedly, and he stammered as he spoke. "Uh, yeah… that's no big deal," he said to Amy. "But, what about my face? It still stings a little."

"I can fix that," Amy said helpfully. "Just close your eyes."

Sonic closed his eyes, just as Amy asked him. While he couldn't see, Amy reached up to Sonic and gently kissed his bruised face right in the middle.

Sonic opened his eyes. After that, the pain felt better. "Thanks, Amy," he said gratefully. "You know, maybe… when this is all done, we should go out on a date?"

Amy's face suddenly lit up with hope. "You mean that?" she gasped.

Sonic paused. He still wasn't entirely ready to go on a date with Amy, but he didn't want her to not have a fun time at the Grand Prix, especially since he was there. "Yeah," he answered, "I do."

Amy smiled, and now she sounded much like her old self… her old, Sonic-fangirl self. "Yay!" she cheered, just loud enough for Sonic to hear. She was so happy because it was the first time Sonic asked her for a date. "It's a date!"

Sonic felt embarrassed at Amy's affection coming back, and even more so when Amy hugged him unexpectantly. But because she wasn't squeezing him so tightly, he didn't try to break away.

Once Amy did let go of Sonic, she sat down on the sand again, looking much happier. She looked up and saw Sonic still standing there, smiling at her. "Come on, Sonic," she said, patting the ground next to her, "sit down, and join me."

Sonic was embarrassed to sit with Amy when their friends were around, but because it was their break, he agreed. He sat beside Amy, and Amy scooted closer to him, placing her arm around him. Sonic looked nervous… but when he felt Amy's hand rubbing up and down his back, and Amy's lips kissing his bruised eye again, he suddenly relaxed.


	7. Back to the Future

At last, the hour was up and everyone was well-rested, ready to go back to racing. The six teams each grabbed their Gears and came back to Dodon Pa and Omochao. Yacker and the other Wisps were there, too. Also, Sonic's eye was better, so he wasn't holding it anymore.

"Alright, Dodon Pa," said Sonic eagerly, "what's up next?"

"Allow me to show you, blue hedgehog," said Dodon Pa. He pressed a button on his flying mobile's control panel, and a portal opened up. Inside, everyone could see a volcano with a rock course constructed around it.

Silver, upon seeing the image, gasped. "That's the volcano known as Flame Core! From _my_ timeline!" he declared, and then he stared at Dodon Pa. "You constructed _your_ race in _my_ timeline?!"

"Of course, child," chuckled Dodon Pa. "If I invited competitors from across time and space to compete in my race, why wouldn't I?"

Silver suddenly sounded calm. "Well, it's not that I have a problem with it," he replied, "it's just that… that volcano is extremely dangerous. There are dozens of lava pits and falling rocks everywhere to be found there."

"Well… that sounds like fun to me!" Sonic said eagerly. Then, without even thinking about it, he ran inside the portal with his Extreme Gear!

"Sonic, wait up!" Amy called, and she, Tails, and Knuckles all followed Sonic inside.

Shadow shook his head and sighed. "He's as eager to win as ever," he answered. "Come on, let's just get this over with." Then Shadow, his team, the Wisps, and everyone else followed Sonic and his friends into the portal, heading for the future.

But as everyone left, Eggman had been spying on everyone from behind one of the cliffs. Metal Sonic and a strange figure concealed by shadows were beside him.

Eggman grinned maliciously. "Yes, fools…" he said with a cackle. "Yes… Fall for my trap. Very soon, you all shall be defeated at your own game… and it will all be according to my ingenious plan!"

Metal Sonic stared at Eggman, but he didn't make a sound. Instead, his eyes flickered red a few times in some sort of manner. At that moment, a voice spoke from Metal Sonic.

"Boss, are you there?" asked Cubot's voice.

Eggman was surprised to hear the voice. "Orbot? Cubot?" he asked in confusion, and then he got angry. "How did you manage to reach out to me?!"

"It was simple, boss," Cubot began. "You see, we took one of your walkie-talkie thingies and—" But then, a thudding sound interrupted him. Orbot smacked Cubot to prevent him from revealing the rest.

"In any case, boss," Orbot said, "we have bad news and good news for you."

"You two bolt-heads are enough bad news," Eggman muttered to himself.

"The bad news is that the transmitter is running low on energy," Orbot continued. "But the good news is, if we can get the racers to perform a few extra races, we'll build up enough of that energy to complete your project."

Now, Eggman grinned. "Hmm," he said to himself, "then that's just what I'll do." He pulled out a strange remote control and pressed a series of buttons. "Excellent," he said calmly. "Pretty soon, all my plans will be completed… and I will finally prove that Sonic and his sleazeball friends are the real ones who are too slow!" Eggman cackled evilly, and his voice echoed around him.

When everyone arrived in the future, they came to a high, rocky pass far away from the volcano. The starting line was far enough away from the volcano to be safe from its lava and rocks, but the path was just barely wide enough for eight racers lined up side-by-side _and_ to provide adequate turning space. The sides of the course just before and after the starting line were lined with metal bars. Fortunately, there was an ample safe space just off the course for all the competitors who weren't yet racing to stand.

Dodon Pa and Omochao floated above the starting line and looked down at all the racers. "Okay, everyone," said Omochao, "this round and the next will be a little different than the previous ones."

"How different?" asked Blaze.

"Well, alongside the standard Team Races from before," explained Omochao, "we will also be incorporating the other format into this round."

"'Other format'?" asked Storm. "What other format?"

"In this new format, all six teams will compete together in a relay race," answered Dodon Pa. "One team member from each team will race one lap on the first course, and then the second one will race one lap, and finally, the third team member will race one lap. It doesn't matter which order teammates race in, but every teammate must race in exactly one full lap. The team who finishes their third lap first wins."

Wave shrugged. "Sounds easy enough to me," she scoffed. "So who's up?"

"Since the Babylon Rogues have been having a bit of trouble over the previous two rounds," said Omochao, "we're putting you first this time. Your opponents are Team Hex."

So, everyone else stepped into the safe spot, leaving Jet and his group with Blaze, Silver, and Zavok. But as everyone began to line up, Zavok scoffed at the Babylon Rogues.

"You three think you can beat us on your little toys?" he scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Jet.

"It means," answered Zavok, "that I've faced better than you. Besides, you've already lost twice in a row."

Storm looked angry, and he stepped up to Zavok. "Hey, you ain't gonna stand here and talk down to us like that!" he declared. "You're just as bad-mannered as that other red mutt!"

"Look who's talking," said Zavok calmly. "You have just as bad an attitude as you claim Knuckles does."

Storm growled in anger. "That's it! I'll show you something!" He launched a punch right towards Zavok, but Zavok stopped it with his muscular arm. Then, he gently pushed Storm away from him!

Storm was usually very strong, but Zavok was even stronger. Also, he was much older and more experienced than even Shadow the Hedgehog, who was created as the Ultimate Life Form over fifty years ago.

"Please," said Zavok calmly, "I don't have time for fistfights." He took his Gear, went to his position, and didn't say anything more, leaving Storm stunned.

Wave had to grab Storm and drag him to the starting line. "Come on, you big lunk!" she muttered. When she finally got Storm to the starting line, he snapped out of his shock and concentrated on the next race.

The lineup from left to right went Storm, Wave, Jet, Blaze, Silver, and Zavok. The countdown initiated, and they rocketed off.

The track that the teams raced upon had several places where magma shot out of the ground and the updraft from them shot pieces of unstable ground out with them. Fortunately, the magma was hardened enough for racers such as Storm and Zavok to smash through them and regain Air. Therefore, it was cool enough to not incinerate anyone who touched it by mistake.

Somewhere in the middle, there was also a large gap in the middle of the track, with a massive pool of lava far below them, covered by a single large boulder. The other edge of the gap was elevated much higher than the drop. Fortunately, there were three ways to cross the pit without falling to the bottom. There was a thin set of connected rocks that functioned as a grind rail leading up, a catapult with air ride rings leading up, and a tall, pillar-shaped stalagmite that was slanted like a ramp leading up to there. The only catch was that a large boulder that only Power-type racers could destroy, and every time one was destroyed, a new one rolled down and blocked the path again.

Jet and Blaze took advantage of the grind rail as their Speed-type shortcut to get across the gap, Wave and Silver used the Flight-type shortcut in the catapult, and Storm and Zavok destroyed the boulders to use the Power-type shortcut.

When the track went into a cave leading to the center of the volcano, Blaze managed to safely guide herself through the fiery course by channeling her pyrokinetic abilities into her Gear's Air system. Whenever she used a boost, she unleashed a burst of fire around her to get past the hot rocks. But as Blaze went along, Jet managed to grind along a long, thin piece of molten metal that functioned as a grind rail.

Wave flew along some of the aerial shortcuts using her arms, which she used as makeshift wings to help her fly. Silver flew close to her by channeling his psychokinesis onto himself and his Gear, but he couldn't manage to get ahead of Wave for long enough to get ahead.

As Blaze and Jet continued along, Blaze tried to call out to Jet. "You should probably be careful down here," she cautioned him.

Jet glanced up at Blaze. "Thanks, but I've got this," he said confidently.

In the center of the volcano, a large slab of rock was resting above a pool of lava. Jet hovered onto it first, and then the rock slab shot up into the sky! The pressure from the blast shot him and his Gear all the way to a peak near the finish line, and Jet landed on the track that wound down the peak. It led him to the finish line, and he went to the next lap. The rock slab came back down for everyone else after that, as if the erupting magma was controlled by a machine.

After the third lap, Jet crossed the finish line first, then Wave and Storm followed him, and then came Blaze, Silver, and Zavok. Jet, Wave, and Storm screeched to a stop, and they looked very pleased with themselves.

"Alright!" Jet declared. "That's finally one up for us!"

"Yeah!" Storm added. "Now we're getting back in the game."

Wave smiled, looking smug. "I guess a rest really was all we needed to concentrate better," she replied. "I'm glad I thought of it."

Sonic just rolled his eyes and looked away. He knew the idea of taking a break was Tails's idea, not Wave's, but he didn't say anything. However, when Blaze came over to him, he didn't ignore her.

"Those three aren't very nice, are they, Sonic?" she asked him.

"No," answered Sonic. "Just ignore them if they try to get on your nerves."

Blaze grinned. "Got it," she said to her friend.

Sure enough, Jet and Wave did look at Blaze and start picking on her. "Oh, was that course too difficult for you and your fire, purply girl?" Jet taunted.

Blaze didn't answer. She just glared at Jet.

"Better luck next time, little girl," Wave said mockingly, "or, I guess, not!"

Blaze just turned around and walked away, and that made Wave angry.

"Hey!" Wave called. "Don't walk away from us when we're talking to you!"

Blaze turned her head and glared at Wave. "Then maybe you should be talking to me more respectfully," she answered. "I'm not a 'little purply girl', I'm a princess. People disrespect me every day, so I know how to ignore people whom I can't trust." Then, she faced Jet and Wave directly. "And I will not take abuse from anyone, especially you," she finished.

Jet and Wave paused in surprise, and they didn't say anything more to Blaze. They just walked towards the sideline, and Storm followed them.

Silver and Zavok saw that Blaze wasn't very happy, and they looked worried for her. "Hey, Zavok," said Silver, "I think we should probably leave Blaze alone for a while. Sometimes, she needs it."

"Very well," said Zavok, and he and Silver went to the sideline, giving Blaze some space. But as they did, Zavok glared at Jet and Wave, frowning. "Shame on both of you, throwing insults at my teammate," he declared firmly, "especially one who's so royal and skilled as Blaze. Now, back off if you know what's good for you!"

Blaze heard every word Zavok said, and while nobody was looking, she smiled to herself. "Wow," she thought, "Zavok does respect me as a teammate after all."

After Teams Babylon and Hex stepped to the side, Omochao spoke up again. "Up next, Team Heroes versus Team Dark," he declared. "If these two teams would like to take their positions, we'll get started right away!"

Sonic and Shadow's teams stepped up to the starting line, and they waited for the countdown. As they did, Sonic grinned at Shadow. "You guys are doing pretty good, Shadow," he said, "and I must admit, Omega's doing pretty well for his first time riding a Gear."

Shadow chuckled. "He's got his ways," he responded. "Now that we've shown those so-called Babylon Rogues what we can do, it's time we showed you and your friends, Sonic."

The two hedgehogs stared at each other, almost as if they were waiting for the other to make another move. Sonic and Shadow always had a knack for competing against each other to see who was better, and this was absolutely no exception.

While Sonic and Shadow stared at each other in rivalry, Rouge smiled at Knuckles. "I don't expect you boys to catch us so easily," she replied. "I can already taste the Master Emerald in my hands now."

Knuckles growled. "That's what you think, but I'm going to show you just how wrong you are," he said calmly. "I'm not going to let you or even those Babylon Rogues take the Master Emerald."

"Well, let's just see, then," said Rouge. "Let's race and see who's really going to shine."

From that until the time of the countdown, everything went just like clockwork. Even when the countdown finished, the racers riding away didn't even flinch.

As Sonic and Shadow rode along the grind rails that wound within the volcano, Tails and Rouge flew across the lava pits, and Knuckles and Omega smashed through the rocks to access their shortcuts. Sonic was in the lead for the first lap, but Shadow followed him very closely.

During the second lap, Shadow passed Sonic while traveling along a trail near the slab to launch them back to the beginning. As Shadow passed him, he grinned at Sonic. "You think that you can beat me, do you, Sonic?" he scoffed.

"I know I can, Shadow," Sonic answered. "You know that I'm faster than you."

"Maybe on the ground," Shadow responded, "but not in the air!" Shadow gave his Gear a speed boost, and he jumped and did an Air Trick off a small ramp. The momentum from the Trick launched Shadow out of the center of the volcano. He hit a loose updraft on the edge, and the force shot him and his Gear sky high! The force of the updraft shot Shadow all the way back to the start of the track, allowing him to reach the third lap.

Sonic tried to do the same Trick as Shadow, but he missed it at the last second and landed on the slab of rock. Fortunately, the slab shot him upwards right away, sending him back towards the beginning. By the time he slid past a hairpin turn to cross the line onto lap three, Shadow was now very far ahead.

"Dang it," muttered Sonic, "Shadow's good. It'll be hard for me to catch him now."

By the time Sonic was almost caught up with Shadow, they were at the last turn before the finish line. Shadow was only a few inches ahead of Sonic, but Sonic was determined to pass him. He leaned forward to accelerate just a little, and before either of the hedgehogs knew it, they both crossed the finish line!

Tails, Omega, Knuckles, and Rouge caught up a few seconds later and came to a stop. They saw Sonic and Shadow riding side-by-side, and they seemed to be arguing about who won. When they finally stopped their Gears, they had forgotten about the race.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tails called, and he flew over to Sonic and Shadow. He put his hands between them and pushed them away from each other. "What's going on?" he asked.

"I won that race, fair and square!" Sonic declared.

"No, _I_ won," Shadow argued. "I was ahead of you the whole third lap."

"I caught up at the end," Sonic retorted.

Tails looked up at Omochao. "Who did win?" he asked.

"I don't know," Omochao answered. "Let me roll back the tape and get a closer look." Omochao flew over to a monitor that had been playing back the race and he rewound the tape. He played the footage frame-by-frame from several different angles, but as he watched the footage, he pondered. "Hmm," he said at last, "it's very difficult to tell who won this race for sure, so this means we have a tie."

Shadow and Sonic gasped. "A tie?" they said together.

"Those are the official results," answered Omochao. "In this race, Team Heroes and Team Dark have tied. This means that if it comes down to these two teams to determine who is the winner, we may have to hold a tiebreaker race after the final round."

Shadow groaned. "Oh, fine," he muttered, "I suppose that's that, then."

"I guess so, Shadow," Sonic agreed. "I never would've imagined we'd tie on an Extreme Gear race, but I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens from here on."


	8. Team Races

The third race had Team Rose face off against Team Chaotix. Just like before, their race went just as clockwork from the time it started to the time it finished. The six racers used shortcuts, Air Tricks, and Wisps to try and get ahead. But so far, neither of them had lost a race during the Grand Prix, so this race would break one of their losing streaks.

When Team Rose and Team Chaotix finished their race, Espio and Amy were the first two to cross the finish line. Amy finished just a split second before Espio, therefore declaring Team Rose the winner of the third race of the round.

Once the two teams finished, Amy smiled. "Yeah!" she declared cheerfully. "That's the third win for me and my team!"

Espio didn't pay any attention to Amy's ego. Instead, he just calmly responded to her. "You've done very well, Amy," he said to her. "But I'm just warning you, sooner or later your luck will begin to diminish."

"Yeah, okay," said Amy. "Whatever you say."

Vector smiled. "Oh, don't worry, Espio," he said, "it's not over yet. We still have a couple more rounds after this one."

"But that was the third race, Vector," Charmy told him. "Isn't this round over now?"

Dodon Pa chuckled. "Did you forget, little bee?" he asked. "The next race in this round is a team race."

"Oh, right," said Charmy. "So, how exactly does this one work?"

"In this form of Team Racing," Dodon Pa answered, "all six teams will compete against each other in a relay race, with each team member racing in one of some number of laps which is a minimum of three, and the first team to complete all those laps first wins. So, would everyone like to pick a representative to partake in the first lap?"

Sonic, Jet, Rouge, Cream, Vector, and Zavok volunteered to be the representatives of their teams for the first lap, so they lined up at the starting line. From left to right, the order went Vector, Rouge, Sonic, Jet, Cream, and Zavok.

"Excellent," said Dodon Pa. "Now, who from each team will partake in the second and third laps? Everyone, please line up behind your teammates."

Tails, Wave, Omega, Big, Espio, and Blaze lined up in a second row, and then Knuckles, Storm, Shadow, Amy, Charmy, and Silver lined up third. Once everyone was in position, Omochao flew above them and looked down at everyone.

"Alright, racers," he said, "here's how it works: Everyone must wait for their teammate to cross the line before they are permitted to begin, and anyone who jumps their line will be penalized, just like with trying to jump the countdown. But other than that change, this race is not any different than any of the other races."

"How many laps will there be, Mr. Omochao?" asked Cream.

"These types of races need to have a minimum of three laps," said Omochao. "We like to keep things even and balanced, so for this relay race, it shall consist of six laps. Anyway, this is part of what makes this World Grand Prix a team effort, so good luck to all of you!"

The countdown commenced once again, and everyone set off. The six teams raced down the track going through Flame Core, each member taking advantage of their collected Wisps and grind, air ride, and power shortcuts.

When the second lap approached, Omochao could see the riders approaching. Sonic and Jet were in the lead, each trying to get ahead of the other. "It looks like Team Heroes and Team Babylon are neck-and-neck," he declared. "I can only wonder how this will end between the two of them."

Tails looked confident as he waited for Sonic to arrive. "I can do it," he said to himself, "I can do it."

Wave just smirked at Tails. "Good luck, shorty," she teased him, "because it looks like I'm getting ahead of you." Just as Wave said that, Jet crossed the finish line, allowing Wave to go. She raced off, leaving a trail of dust behind her.

Sonic crossed the finish line just as Wave crossed it, and he called out to his friend. "Go, Tails! Go!" he called.

Tails heard his signal, and he raced after Wave as fast as he could. Then, one by one, everyone else crossed the line and allowed their second teammates to go.

On the third lap, Tails and Wave also maintained a neck-and-neck pace once Tails caught up. They also stayed ahead of everyone else, but by only a short distance.

Once Wave saw the finish line just ahead of her and Knuckles still there, she looked pleased. "Yes… yes!" she declared. "I'm going to-…"

"See you later, Wave!" Tails interrupted. Wave looked to her side, and she saw Tails boost right past her! He crossed the finish line before she did, and Knuckles rocketed away before Storm!

"Darn it," Wave growled, "he got ahead of me!" She looked angry as she crossed the finish line, finally allowing Storm to go. "Storm, don't mess around here!" she said to him. "Hurry!"

Storm didn't like taking orders from Wave, but he wanted to win as much as she did, so he boosted away without a word, and then everyone else followed him onto the third lap. Once Knuckles and Storm finished the third lap, Sonic and Jet set off for their next lap, and this left Tails and Wave waiting for them to come again.

On the last stretch of the sixth lap, Knuckles and Storm were also neck-and-neck… but this time, neither one of them could stay ahead of the other for long enough. They crossed the finish line together, and they were declared tied!

"Whoa-ho," said Omochao, "I can't believe this! We've got a second tie of the day, and this time it's between Team Heroes and Team Babylon!" But just as he said that, Shadow, Silver, Charmy, and Amy all crossed the finish line together as well!

"Oh, make that three ties!" said Omochao again. "And a four-way tie, nonetheless!"

"So, which team is winning so far?" asked Shadow.

Omochao smiled at first, but then he sounded unhappy. "Uh… I don't know," he answered. "To be honest, I was so caught up with all the excitement in these races, I wasn't really keeping score."

Jet sounded shocked and angry at this. "You weren't keeping score?!" he shouted. "How're we supposed to know who's winning now?!"

"Yeah!" added Knuckles angrily. "We all came here for the money and treasure, and we can't tell who's winning fair and square!"

Blaze looked irritated. "'We all'?" she asked. "Excuse me, but Silver and I came here because this was our first official invitation to an Extreme Gear race. I for one couldn't care less about the reward."

"Good," said Vector, "then that means I'll get a bigger share of the money!"

"You think you've won it already, don't you?" scoffed Wave. "If anyone's taking the reward, it's the Babylon Rogues. After all, we're real treasure hunters."

"'Real treasure hunters'?" asked Rouge. "You aren't real treasure hunters, not like myself. You three to me are just like those stupid little girls and their clumsy friend."

"Hey!" shouted Amy. "We aren't stupid, and Big isn't clumsy!"

Rouge just glared at Amy. "Well, I don't recall asking you, pinky," she retorted.

"We're real treasure hunters," Storm declared. "After all, we come from an ancient lineage of treasure thieves, so _we're_ the ones who are gonna take the treasure!"

"Scan of birdlike creatures indicates their skills are inferior to my own," stated Omega. "They cannot match my superiority, for I am the Ultimate Robot!"

Now, Jet was even angrier than ever. "You're calling me and the other Babylon Rogues inferior?!" he growled. "Just wait 'til I get my hands on you!" He tried to step up to Omega, but Shadow stepped between him.

"Keep your dirty little paws off my friend," he said bluntly, "or you'll end up facing the real power of me, the Ultimate Life Form." Shadow reached behind him and showed Jet the red Chaos Emerald!

Jet looked confused at that. "What can you do with that Chaos Emerald, Shadow?" he asked.

"I control time and space using the Chaos Emeralds' power," Shadow answered. "Nobody can match me on _that_ level of skill or power… especially the Babylon Rogues."

Silver scoffed at that remark. "You're not the only one with powers enhanced by the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow," he said. "I might not be as good as you at using Chaos Control, but my psychokinetic powers are strengthened by the Chaos Emeralds."

"True," agreed Shadow, "but you're still not as powerful as I am."

Silver looked angry at Shadow's boasting, and pretty soon, everyone worked themselves into a massive argument.

As they watched everyone else arguing, Sonic and Tails became very concerned. "Sonic, you have to do something!" Tails said to him. "If we let this continue, there'll be no point in even going on!"

"But how can we stop them?" asked Sonic. "There's so many of our friends and rivals here, I don't know how to get them all to calm down at once."

"I don't know!" answered Tails. "Just do something!"

"Hey! Everyone!" Sonic called, but nobody heard him. They all were arguing too loudly. "Everyone, listen up!" he called, even louder, but still nobody was listening.

Amy noticed Sonic trying to get everyone to listen to him, so she looked at him. She placed her hands over her ears as she did, and then she pointed to Sonic. As she did, she pulled out her Piko-Piko Hammer and placed it over her shoulder.

Sonic wasn't sure what Amy meant, but he did cover his ears and had Tails do it, too… and once they did, they just barely blocked out the noise of an incredibly loud and long scream.

"QUIEETTTTTTTTTTTT!" Amy bellowed, and she began pounding her hammer on the ground as hard as she could, making as much loud noise as possible. Everyone immediately stopped arguing, and they instead covered their ears in pain… Even Omochao, Dodon Pa, and all the Wisps covered their ears. Once Amy had stopped yelling, everything just became incredibly silent. Nobody made a sound, and everyone eventually uncovered their ears.

Now, Amy smiled and sounded much calmer. "That's better," she said sweetly and innocently, putting her hammer away.

Jet still looked startled by Amy's sudden outburst. "What was that for?" he asked. "That was really loud."

"It doesn't matter who's winning or not right now, does it?" asked Sonic. "If we need to, we'll decide this later."

"But that doesn't even seem fair," said Rouge, looking upset. "If we did all that work for nothing, what's the point of going on when nobody's even keeping track?"

"That's what we'll figure out in the end," said Omochao, and then he looked back at Dodon Pa. "Okay, Dodon Pa," he said, "so where's our next destination?"

"Allow me to show you," said Dodon Pa, and he opened another new portal. This one led to a snowy place covered with icebergs and glaciers. "Our next race shall take place at Ice Mountain, located in Glacierland."

"This will be the semifinal round," added Omochao, "so now everything from here on is more important than ever. Team Heroes will be facing Team Hex, Team Babylon will be facing Team Rose, and Team Dark will be facing Team Chaotix."

Cream stared at the place, and she looked nervous. "That place looks really cold," she said nervously. "What is it?"

"Glacierland is a frozen wasteland in the northern part of our world, Cream," said Amy. "It once was a place where Eggman kept his machines. But hardly anyone ever goes there nowadays because there are extremely slippery paths across glaciers and deep crevasses that have icicles protruding from all directions. It is extremely cold and very dangerous, so nobody bothers with it."

"Then why is part of Mr. Dodon Pa's race there?" asked Cream.

"Because, little bunny," explained Dodon Pa, "it is necessary to take risks once in a while. But fret not, for I shall guarantee that you all will survive… somehow." Dodon Pa and Omochao flew inside the new portal before anyone could say another word.

"Alright, then," sighed Blaze, "I guess there's no other option. Let's go." She led everyone else into the portal, heading back for their world. Once everyone had gone through the portal, it sealed itself closed again.

Back in Eggman's hideout, Orbot and Cubot were both being overworked. They were rushing back and forth across the room, between the central computer and the E-10000 series robots. The three robots were still inactive, but that didn't matter to Eggman.

Cubot looked unhappy, so he spoke to Orbot. "Why'd the boss have us do the data collection and transfer this way instead of how he did it last time, with all the other E-10000 robots?" he complained.

"I don't know, Cubot," Orbot answered. "As much as I would like to know the answer to that question as anyone who may be listening in upon us, the boss just said that all we needed to know was that this time, his plan wouldn't fail for sure."

"I hope so," agreed Cubot, "because Dr. Eggman has failed so many times, I've lost count."

"You don't even know _how_ to count," sighed Orbot.

"Oh, yeah," Cubot said in realization. "Uh, what's counting again?"

Orbot sighed and shook his head. "Just keep working, would you, please?" he asked kindly. "Dr. Eggman wants these robot prototypes to be absolutely perfect for his Grand Prix, and all the data we've collected thus far is essential to their perfection."

"Okay," sighed Cubot, and he continued working. "So, how many more races do we need to collect data from?"

Orbot looked at the central computer carefully. "Hmm," he said, "it looks like that recent race has given the transmitter a great boost of energy, but it still won't be enough to record all the necessary data. I think that one more extra race, longer than before, should provide us with enough power."

"Okay," Cubot replied, "now we just need to tell that to the boss."

"I'm already on it," said Orbot. He typed something on the keyboard, apparently sending something to Dr. Eggman. "There, now Dr. Eggman will have the necessary information on how to complete his plan."

"Great," responded Cubot, "soon, everything will be ready. I just hope that the boss can stall Sonic long enough for everything to work."

"He'll find a way, I'm sure," Orbot convinced him. "He always does."


	9. Heating Up

Soon, Sonic and his friends arrived back at their world at Glacierland. The place was indeed very dangerous, especially because it was on top of an active volcano. Below the long strands of ice was freezing water, with small icebergs packed with snow, which were the only things holding it up.

Once they arrived at Glacierland, Cream began to shiver. "Brrr," she shivered, "it's cold here."

Amy pulled Cream closer to her and held her gently. "Don't worry, Cream," she said, "we'll be okay. Just think warm thoughts… and you'll feel warmer." As everyone spoke, their breath came out as water vapor.

Dodon Pa and Omochao didn't seem bothered by the cold at all. "Ah, it's been so long since I last came here," Dodon Pa said to himself, "I remember when I hosted my own Grand Prix on this very land."

But Jet didn't look impressed. "You really could handle hosting a race here?" he asked. "It's so cold here, I don't even feel like racing." Then, he let out a sneeze, covering his mouth and nose, first.

Tails wrapped his two tails around his body as he tried to keep himself warm. "Are we really going through with this?" he asked.

"I… guess so," answered Sonic, so he looked at Dodon Pa and Omochao. "So, what's going on here?"

"In this semifinal round, we will hold the standard three racers to confirm teams' positions," said Omochao, "and then we will hold a second Team Relay race after that."

"So, why are we racing in these relay races if the only thing that matters here is the standard ones?" asked Zavok. "And what is even the point of holding extra races?"

"That is classified information, big red Zeti," Dodon Pa explained. "What you do have a right to know is, everything that happens here is essential to the competition's outcome."

Zavok just crossed his arms doubtfully. "What a strange Tanuki," he mumbled under his breath.

Team Dark and Team Chaotix were the first ones to race in the round, so they lined up at the starting line. The order of the riders always went with the Speed-type racers in the middle, the Flight-type racers on the outer side of them, and the Power-type racers on the outermost edges. The three members of any one team always lined up on one side.

Dodon Pa pointed up towards a bunch of snowy and icy peaks in the vicinity. "This place is Ice Mountain," he told his racers. "The course will travel through here, taking certain routes those of you who partook in my competition may remember. But likewise, there are also certain areas that you have not seen or been through. It will take skill as well as speed to maneuver this course."

Shadow glanced over towards Vector, and he chuckled with his intimidating demeanor. "Not bad so far, Vector," he replied, "but we'll show you just what you're dealing with right now."

"Whatever you say, Shadow," Vector retorted, "whatever you say."

The countdown commenced, and the racers zoomed off. The first kicker shot the team up towards a cave opening in the mountain, and the track led them inside the cave lined with all the icicles.

It was very dark and very cold inside the cave, but the racers didn't seem to notice. The insides of the cave were also illuminated by torches lining the walls. The first part of the track was a spiral downward… and then into a gigantic underground cavern.

Charmy was going slow enough, so he looked around at all the sparkling icicles. "Whoa," he said, "look at this place! It's so pretty."

Rouge's eyes lit up, too. "Yeah, I'll admit it is a sight to behold," she agreed, "but I'm looking forward to the real treasure… the gems of the treasure reward."

Charmy looked ahead and saw something. "Uh-oh, look out!" he called. "There's a big puddle of water over there!"

Rouge looked ahead, and she suddenly gasped. Just ahead of her was a body of water that remained unfrozen. It wasn't shallow because the water filled a pit in the track. She also knew that the water here was freezing, so falling into it would be a terror.

Rouge stopped before reaching the icy water, but Charmy didn't. As he approached the water, Rouge suddenly grinned smugly. "Oh, let that little kid fall in," she thought, "and then I'll take the lead for my own."

But just before Charmy fell into the water, he was launched upwards! A small ramp of ice acted as a catapult, and it shot Charmy up towards a set of air ride rings. The rings launched him over the water, safely onto the other side.

When Charmy landed, he was still stunned. "Hey, what just happened?" he asked innocently.

Rouge was impressed. "Wow," she said, "I guess that they thought of everything here. I'll just have to keep going if I want to get over there myself." She began to move again, and her Gear hit the ice catapult. Sure enough, Rouge was able to cross the water by using the air ride rings just like Charmy was, so she continued following him.

Meanwhile, Vector and Omega were smashing their way through the icicles that blocked their way, which functioned as their type shortcuts. The icicles inside the caves were replaced so quickly after being smashed by new ones falling from the cave roof, and some of them even allowed them to cross the unfrozen water safely.

But soon, Vector and Omega broke through an ice wall and came to a straight path that had a lot of unstable icicles hanging from the ceiling. The icicles were razor-sharp, looking like they could impale anyone unlucky enough to be caught under them. As the two of them passed under the first ones, the icicles ahead of them began to fall!

Vector looked ahead of him and gasped. "Dang it!" he declared. "We're gonna get trapped!"

"Nonsense," said Omega, speaking very calmly. "Analysis suggests the icicles ahead are fragile enough for us to demolish and replenish our Air supply, despite our diminutive size compared to them."

Vector glanced at Omega. "Wait, what did you say, Omega?" he asked. "That was too fast."

Omega shook his head. "We can destroy those icicles and regain Air," he said, sounding annoyed.

Sure enough, Omega was right. As he and Vector approached the fallen icicles, which were spread out along the track, they rammed through them, punching them in the process. The icicles were destroyed, and their Gears were slightly replenished with every one destroyed!

After they rammed through the largest of all, they came back onto the main track. They had managed to travel a fair distance across the shortcut compared to the main route which had plenty of turns before the shortcut, but they were still trying to get ahead of the other.

By the middle of the third lap, Shadow was in the lead, with Espio just behind him. The two managed to grind along a thin rail made of ice, and then they came to an incline rising back up to the light. Their Gears hustled up towards the light, and they came to the opening of another cave. Just ahead was the finish line, where everyone was waiting.

Shadow crossed the finish line first and came to a stop, grinning. "Heh, was there any doubt for even a minute?" he asked confidently.

When everyone else came to the end, they saw Shadow and acknowledged his team's victory. "Well done, Shadow," said Espio respectfully, "you have won fair and square."

"Of course," said Shadow calmly. "I'm the Ultimate Life Form, so I can never lose to any who are inferior to me."

Jet sighed. "That's what you think, Shadow," he replied, "but don't forget that _I'm_ a Legendary Wind Master. I'm gonna show you just what being unbeatable _really_ means."

"Whatever you say, kiddo," Rouge charmingly told Jet, and she and her teammates stepped to the side.

Jet and his team grabbed their Gears and walked to the starting line, ready to race. "Okay, you two," said Jet, "ready for this? It's time we showed our true skills on Extreme Gear, to prove we're the best the world has ever seen."

"Got it, boss!" Storm declared, saluting him.

Wave grinned at Jet. "Right, time for us to get our skills back," she agreed. "We're going to prove that the Babylon Rogues are masters."

But just then, Amy spoke to Jet. "You think so, do ya?" she asked. "If you're the best, how come Sonic's just as good as you are?"

Jet turned towards Amy, and he just frowned at her. "Heh, he's the only racer here that matters to me, girly," he said tauntingly. "I have to admit, I almost feel bad for you and your little friends."

"Why do you say that, Mr. Jet?" asked Cream.

"Because," answered Jet, "you two are just kids. You don't have anywhere close to as many skills as we do."

As Jet walked to the starting line, Amy clenched her fists and snarled through her nose. "I'm just as good as Sonic," she said calmly, "and that's why I'm here! I'll show you that I can match Sonic in skill… by defeating you in a race right now!" Then, she looked back at Sonic and smiled affectionately. "Then, I'm gonna take him on a date after all this is over," she said cheerfully.

Sonic scratched the back of his head and nervously stammered. "Yeah… whatever you say, Amy," he replied.

Then, Storm saw Big. "Ha-ha, oh, look," he said tauntingly, "it's the frog guy!"

Big didn't like Storm's comment, but he didn't know what to say. "Uh… I don't like being teased about Froggy," he said slowly.

Wave glared at Big. "You really have to carry that guy everywhere with you, don't you?" she said to him.

"Hey, maybe Mr. Big does have a frog such as Froggy for a pet," said Cream, "but what's wrong with that? After all, I have my pet Chao, Cheese, with me all the time!"

"You're just a little kid, bunny rabbit," Wave bluntly declared. "But your purple feline friend isn't, so he's obviously got a problem of his own."

Now, Amy sounded angry, so she pulled out her hammer. Seeing it made even the Babylon Rogues tremble in fear. "Hey, don't say that about my friend!" she declared. "If anyone has any problems around here, _I_ have a problem with you picking on my friends! Now, if you want to see who's really the best around here, why don't we race to prove it?"

"Alright, then," said Jet, "let's do it."

Amy, Jet, and their teams lined up for the countdown, each still annoyed by the other team's antics. The countdown finished, and the two teams set off. As they went along, they went through the ice caves that were similar in a few ways to the first race, but they also went outside a few times along the way.

But what they hadn't noticed was that something dropped from Big's Extreme Gear and landed in a pile of snow near the gate.

During the first lap, Amy and Jet were riding side-by-side over the snow. Amy still had her hammer in her hands, and she was still waiting to use it. From time to time, she glared at Jet, which made him nervous.

Finally, Jet couldn't handle being afraid anymore, so he revealed his Bashosen to Amy. "You aren't the only one who knows how to use a weapon, girl," he told her. "I've got my own, too!"

"Yeah, whatever," Amy declared, "just see if I care. Just don't get on my bad side."

"And don't _you_ get on _my_ bad side!" Jet retorted.

"Then don't pick on my friends!" Amy snapped. "Just because we're kids doesn't mean we don't have skills. If you ask me, I'd say _you_ guys are the ones who haven't got _your_ skills today."

Jet wanted to say something, but he was so stunned by that remark that he couldn't think of what to say. "Why you…" he muttered inaudibly, but at last, he calmed down and put his Bashosen away. "Fine, whatever you say," he said to himself, "but my team and I aren't going to lose to you."

"We'll just see, then," said Amy. "Come on, let's turn it up a notch!"

Amy and Jet both shot off, each trying to get ahead of the other. They were still angry at each other, and they wanted to rub their victory in the other's faces more than ever as they kept going.

When the second race finished, Jet and his crew finished just before Amy did. The instance Team Babylon found out they won, they felt proud and stood tall.

Jet turned towards Team Rose and began gloating proudly. "Ha-ha!" he declared. "Looks like that's the end of your winning streak, girlies!"

Amy frowned at Jet, unamused. Cream didn't like being teased, either, so Amy held her close. Cheese also stayed close to Cream. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered, "so you won, big deal."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Wave taunted, "did that hurt your little kiddy feelings?"

"Maybe next time, we'll go a little easier on you," Storm began, but then he chuckled. "But then again, if we went any easier on you, we'd just let you win." He, Jet, and Wave began laughing proudly.

But Big looked very unhappy. He'd had enough of his friends being teased, so he opened Froggy's capsule. Froggy hopped out and over to Jet, and he leaped up onto Jet's head.

The moment Jet felt Froggy's wet, slimy body touch the top of his head, he stopped laughing and began panicking. "Ew! Get it off me!" he called frantically. "Get it off me!"

Storm tried to slap Froggy away, but Froggy hopped off and back to Big without even a pause. Froggy leaped back into his capsule, and Big closed it up again.

After that, Jet and his gang grew angry again. "Hey!" Jet shouted, his voice reverberating around the track. "What the heck was that for?!"

Big glared at Jet. "Maybe now _you'll_ know what it's like to pick on my friends," he told him, pointing.

"I thought I warned you, punk!" Storm declared, pounding his fists. "I warned you to keep your frog friend away from us, or I'd smash him up… _and_ you!"

"I don't usually like admitting it," Wave snapped, "but I agree with Storm. We warned you, you big purple putz."

Now, Amy looked angry. "Nobody picks on Big!" she declared, revealing her hammer.

Storm nervously backed away. "Uh… hey, let's not use that," he stammered. "Maybe we can all just calm down and put everything down…"

Wave just scoffed. "You're pathetic, Storm," she told him. "I can't believe you're afraid of a little girl with a hammer that we beat in a race."

Storm got angry again. "_I'm_ pathetic?!" he declared. "Obviously, _you_ haven't seen that hammer in action!"

"I don't need to, because I'm not scared of a little girl," Wave told him.

Amy got even angrier. "You want me to show you, too?!" she declared. "I'll give you something to fear!" She swung her hammer as hard as she could, but before it hit anything, Zavok stepped between them. Zavok grabbed Amy's hammer with one hand and stopped it cold.

"Hey, stop it!" Zavok declared. "You all are acting ridiculous."

Now, Storm glared at Zavok. "Watch it, you red mutt!" he warned him. "I'm ready to—"

But before anyone could do anything more, Zavok summoned a burst of fire from his body. It caused everyone to back away, intimidated. "ENOUGH!" he shouted, and then everyone went quiet. Then, Zavok began speaking again, still sounding irritated. "Is this what a loss means to you, fighting like this?! This has gotten way out of line. If you continue arguing, I will destroy—"

"Zavok?" Blaze interrupted.

Immediately, Zavok cleared his throat and regained his posture. "Excuse me," he said. "I meant to say, all this arguing is not helping our situation at all. If we cannot go one round in this competition without arguing over who is to blame for what, then what is the point of us even going on with it? I may be a ruthless, merciless Zeti, but even _I_ have respect for those with considerable skill."

"But… you're a villain, Zavok," said Amy. "You don't respect any of us."

Zavok crossed his arms. "That doesn't matter, Amy," he declared. "What _does_ matter is this: We cannot continue with this competition if we don't respect each other's skill. We all want to win, and we can only win by cooperating with our teams. I for one would like this fighting to stop right now!"

Sonic was especially stunned. "Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Zavok is right," he said at last, "and believe me, that's a hard thing to say. I guess that even though he's a villain, he's not so cruel… at least this time."

Zavok grinned, pleased that Sonic finally acknowledged at least some respect for him as a reasonable participant. "Thank you, Sonic," he said calmly. "Now, I believe that we have one more race to perform this round, do we not?"

"Yes, Zavok," Blaze confirmed, very calmly, and then she turned to Sonic. "Well, old friend," she said to him, "I suppose now it's our turn to race."

"Yeah, Blaze," Sonic grinned, "it is."

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles grabbed their Extreme Gears and walked to the starting line, and Blaze, Silver, and Zavok lined up beside them.

"Okay, racers," said Omochao, "let's see another great and heated race to light this competition up!" Just after he made his announcement, the countdown began once more. Once it had finished, Teams Heroes and Hex rocketed away.


	10. Suspicious Motives

While Sonic and his friends were racing, Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic had gone back to the laboratory, where Orbot and Cubot were still working. Eggman was carefully observing the data that his two robot minions had accumulated and the energy the machine was running upon. Metal Sonic was holding something which appeared to be an unfinished Extreme Gear.

Eggman grinned at his machine. "Well, I must admit," he said, "you two are good for something, after all. I almost have enough data to perfect my E-10000 prototypes."

"But, what about this Gear, boss?" asked Orbot.

Eggman looked down at the Gear Metal Sonic was holding, and he grinned. "Ah, yes," he answered, "this Gear is special. It will be fine-tuned to perfection for one of my minions."

"What minion?" asked Cubot.

"That's a surprise," answered Eggman. "Just a little more data, and then everything will be ready." Eggman chuckled maliciously, making Orbot and Cubot cringe. They didn't know what the plan was, or why Eggman was so confident it wouldn't fail.

When the race between Team Heroes and Team Hex was finished, Team Heroes had won for once. He, Tails, and Knuckles skidded to a stop just beyond the finish line.

"All right," Sonic said, "that's one up for us!"

Tails looked pleased as well. "I knew that it would just take some more skill," he said happily.

Zavok looked at Sonic and his team, and he grinned. "Not bad, I must admit," he told them. "You have done well to defeat us."

"That's right, Zavok," said Knuckles, now sounding calmer. "We told you we weren't going to let you win."

"No, you didn't, Knuckles," Zavok replied.

"Well, I would've," Knuckles responded.

Sonic called out to Dodon Pa and Omochao. "Dodon Pa! We're ready to go!" But neither Dodon Pa nor Omochao was anywhere to be seen.

Tails noticed that they were gone, too. "That's strange," he said, "where did they go?"

"I don't know," Jet responded. "Why would they just leave us without even saying anything? It seems like something related to Eggman's schemes if you ask me."

"Eggman's always up to something," Sonic agreed. "The only thing that matters is who he's got involved with him."

Omega looked around and scanned for anything that might lead them to Dodon Pa and Omochao, but he didn't sense anything. "This does not compute," he robotically declared, "all traces of Dodon Pa and the puny robot Chao have vanished without a trace." But no sooner did he say that that he began to make strange sounds.

Amy saw that Omega was looking worn out. "Omega?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

Omega couldn't speak very well as he responded. "Situation… desperate…" he said weakly. "Maintenance… necessary…" His voice grew weaker and weaker as if he was shutting down. Then, he just fell onto the ground and sat down.

Rouge was worried. "Omega!" she declared. "Are you okay?" But Omega didn't answer her.

"Hmm, this isn't right," Shadow replied, "let me take a look at him." He walked to the back of Omega and looked inside him. As he did, he frowned. "Oh, dear," he said bluntly, "it seems that something is jamming Omega's sensors, and it's interfering with his hard drive."

"Is there something inside of him, Shadow?" Tails asked.

"No," Shadow answered. "It appears to be an external force, so it must be something coming from nearby."

"Let me take a look around," Tails volunteered, and he pulled out his handheld device. He touched the screen as if he were pressing a series of buttons, but then his handheld stopped working. "Oh, geez," he sighed, "it's jamming my handheld."

Jet saw that Tails was having trouble helping Omega, and then he had an idea. He looked towards Wave and began to speak to her. "Hey Wave," he said, "why don't you take a look at that little guy's machine and try to help him?"

Wave's eyes widened at Jet's comment, but then she frowned. "What?!" she gasped. "No! Why would I even want to?"

"Well, you're the tech expert of the Babylon Rogues," Jet told her.

"The boss is right," agreed Storm. "If anyone can repair anything, it's either that fox boy or you."

"Forget it," Wave said bluntly. "That shrimp can handle fixing that pathetic machine of his on his own." But everyone just stared at her, unamused. After being stared at for a while, Wave sighed and just shrugged. "Okay, fine," she said, "I'll take a look at that shrimp's machine."

Tails flew up to Wave and gave his handheld device to her, so she took a look at the screen, pressing buttons and the screen.

A minute later, Wave looked puzzled. "That's unusual," she said. "According to what I've figured out, there's some kind of… energy field radiating nearby."

"Really?" asked Tails. "Let me see." He looked up at his device again. Sure enough, there was a strong sensation coming from nearby, and it was interfering with Omega. "You're right, Wave," he agreed, "there is something nearby."

"What is it, Tails?" asked Sonic.

"I don't know," Tails answered, turning towards a snowbank near the starting gate, "but it looks like the signal is coming from that snowbank."

"I'll check it out," Wave said. She walked over to the snowbank and reached down into it. She moved her hand around, and she suddenly felt something. "What's this thing?" she asked, and then she began to pull something out. "It's some kind of… icosahedral rock."

When Wave pulled the thing out, she almost fell over. The object was magenta with black stripes, and it had a massive amount of energy radiating from inside it. "A… a Phantom Ruby prototype!" she called.

Jet looked confused. "A… a what?" he asked. "What does that mean?"

"A Phantom Ruby prototype, Jet," explained Wave. "The Phantom Ruby is an interdimensional gemstone that has the power to manipulate reality by controlling people's depth perception and vision, and its raw power is unspeakable. This rock is a prototype of that gemstone."

Tails was startled by Wave's knowledge of the Phantom Ruby, especially since the Babylon Rogues hadn't assisted them when the Eggman Empire recently conquered almost all of the world. "You know of it, Wave?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, to some extent," Wave explained. "In the ancient past, after Babylon Garden had landed on the earth, the Babylonians had a few encounters with the Phantom Ruby. They discovered that its powers over augmented reality were just as dangerous as the Arks of the Cosmos that had powered Astral Babylon, and it could potentially rewrite the laws of nature. At first, they tried using its power in their technological achievements, specifically in their Extreme Gear prototypes, as well as trying to return to their home planet, but that power was too much for either of their endeavors to handle."

"Then how did the knowledge of the gemstone get passed down to the Babylon Rogues?" asked Storm.

"When the sixteenth generation of the Babylon Rogues learned of its power to rewrite reality, they sought to use it to obtain all the treasures in the universe," Wave continued, "and declare themselves as master thieves. But they had no control over the Phantom Ruby's nigh-limitless power, and it was also because of that power that Babylon Garden was cast into the earth's depths beneath Sand Ruins."

"The Phantom Ruby was what buried Babylon Garden?" asked Sonic. "But what about their incurring the wrath of the Gods?"

"The Gods had punished all the Babylonians by scattering them from their home," Wave finished, "and they had created the Key to Babylon Garden, which would only release the island from its tomb through incredible power, just like the Phantom Ruby's power. But the Phantom Ruby seemingly disappeared after the events leading it to cast away Babylon Garden."

"And the seven Chaos Emeralds together are almost as powerful as the Phantom Ruby itself," added Silver.

"So that's why Eggman told me about using the Chaos Emeralds to release the island," Jet declared, realizing everything, and then he had a thought. "Wave, do you think that maybe… Eggman has been using these prototypes for something?"

"Probably," Wave answered. "I have a feeling that there may be more of these around our world… but I'm not sure where."

"Destroy it," Shadow firmly declared. "I don't want its power to ruin my friend."

Wave thought about how to destroy it, but before she could, Storm grabbed it himself and smashed it using his bare hands! The shards of the stone fell to the ground and faded away in a strange, magenta manner.

Just then, Omega rebooted and stood up again. "Reboot successful, external power source deactivated," he declared.

"Glad to hear it, Omega," Shadow said gratefully. "Now, let's get out of here before anything else happens."

"But what about Dodon Pa and Omochao?" asked Jet. "They're the only ones who know where we're supposed to go. And besides, aren't we stuck here without them?"

Shadow grinned, and he revealed that he had the red Chaos Emerald. "Well, I could teleport all of us to wherever the next race would be using Chaos Control," he replied, "but I'll need more than just one Emerald if we're going to have enough power for all of us to teleport at the same time."

"Don't worry about that, Shadow," said Sonic, "I have just what we need." He reached behind him and revealed he had the blue Chaos Emerald.

Shadow looked amazed. "Another Chaos Emerald?" he asked. "Where did you get that, Sonic?"

"I had it, just in case you and I had a score to settle," answered Sonic.

"Well, I must admit, that's clever thinking," Shadow stated. "But we'll need all seven Chaos Emeralds."

"I have one, too," added Silver, and he revealed that he had the silver Chaos Emerald.

Then, one by one, many of the other racers revealed they had Chaos Emeralds as well. Blaze had the purple one, Big had the cyan one, and Cream had the yellow one.

"Well, that's six," said Sonic, "but where's the seventh emerald?"

Just then, Rouge pulled something else out from inside Omega, and it was the seventh Chaos Emerald! "Here it is," she said. "I guess Omega must've found it on his own time, and he kept it inside him as a backup power source."

"Affirmative," Omega declared. "Now that I am rebooted, I am ready to continue racing."

Shadow held his Chaos Emerald above him, and then the other six began to levitate in a circle above him. Then his Emerald joined the others, and they began to resonate with Shadow's body.

"Chaos… Control!" Shadow declared, and then the eighteen racers, their Extreme Gears, and all seven Chaos Emeralds teleported away from the realms.

Seconds later, everyone reappeared upon Mystic Ruins, just outside Angel Island. The Chaos Emeralds drifted towards Angel Island as the eighteen racers looked around.

Knuckles looked up towards Angel Island. Strangely, there was a racing gate nearby that stood before a tunnel leading up to the island. The seven Chaos Emeralds sat themselves down upon the racing gate. "That's strange," he said. "That racing gate wasn't there before."

"Maybe Dodon Pa had anticipated that you were trying to get back the Master Emerald," suggested Tails, "so he set up the last track here."

"Well, we might as well finish what we started," suggested Sonic. "We each still have one final team to race."

"Sonic's right," agreed Amy. "So, do we know who still needs to race whom?"

"Naturally, I do," declared Jet, and he looked Sonic in the eye. "Our teams are racing each other at last, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"And we still have to face your team, Amy," declared Shadow.

"That means we're racing Zavok, Blaze, and Silver, boys," said Vector.

"All right, then," said Tails, "let's finish this round ourselves, see what Dodon Pa's racecourse consists of, and give it a go!"

Everyone headed over to the starting gate, and they found the Wisps and Chao waiting for them. Yacker was there, too, and he looked pleased to see his friends.

Sonic grinned upon seeing a friendly face. "Sup, Yacker," he said casually. "You know anything about this course?"

Yacker made strange motions with his hands and body as he made his strange speech, but Tails managed to understand it all using his translator.

"Okay, Yacker says that this course goes up to Angel Island, around it a little, and through its shrine," said Tails, "and then we get launched back to the top of the Mystic Ruins cliffs. Then the course travels through the caves and forests, and then back to here. The track has a bunch of Wisp capsules that line up along the width of the course, so if we get lost, we just follow them."

"Sounds easy enough to me," Jet shrugged, "let's get to it!"

"Yeah, we'll go first!" added Storm, glancing at Sonic and his team. "Time to show you three that we aren't gonna let you beat us anymore!"

Knuckles clenched his fists and glared at Storm. "You say that like it's gonna be easy for you," he said unflinchingly, "but it'll be _us_ showing _you_ something!"

Wave brushed her braids aside and twirled around once gracefully on her toes, then she looked at Tails with a playful smile. "You up for a _real_ challenge, shorty?" she asked him.

"Yeah, you can count on me being ready for anything," Tails answered.

Jet and Sonic glanced at each other as well. "No need for words now, eh, Jet?" asked Sonic.

"Oh, it's on, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Jet declared.

Inspired by the rivalry between Team Heroes and Team Babylon, Shadow chuckled as well. "If they think they're going to win this thing, then that's where I'm going to prove them wrong," he stated.

"You think so, don't you, Shadow?" asked Amy. "Well, I've got one thing going for me that you don't have: The power of love!" Just hearing that comment made Sonic blush.

Rouge chuckled in her ladylike way. "Oh, you kiddies always know how to make a woman laugh," she said cheekily, "but can you race as well as you make me adore you?"

Cream looked somewhat ashamed. "Amy and I might not be as good as you are, Miss Rouge," she said to her, "but you don't have to be so mean about it."

Big placed his hand on Cream's shoulder. "Don't worry," he assured her, "we can do anything together. We just have to try, and we can still win."

"Maybe you won against Sonic, Vector, and Zavok's teams," Omega declared quickly, "but you will need to provide more than sufficient effort to even sustain a chance against us."

Vector looked amazed at Omega's comment. "Sheesh, and I thought Charmy talked a lot," he said out loud, "but I guess anyone can talk big as long as he knows what to say."

"Hear that coming from the crocodile with the biggest mouth around," Zavok muttered, "especially he who can't always keep it shut!"

"Hey!" Charmy retaliated. "Nobody talks about Vector like that! Now, why don't you back off before I give you a mouthful of stinger?!"

"Charmy," Silver interrupted, "this isn't the time for that. Besides, Zavok may not be the friendliest person around, but since he hasn't done anything evil, is it really the right thing to threaten him?"

"I agree with Silver," added Espio. "Zavok is devious and cruel, but that doesn't justify unnecessary violence against him. We're here to race, not to fight, as he had said earlier."

"Yes, Espio," Blaze replied calmly, "I concur with your observation, for it is only with teamwork that we shall prevail, and our efforts shall be rewarded… but what with, I do not know."

After everyone had gotten through with their "sessions", they let the races begin. Like before, they waited for the countdown to finish, and they set off.


	11. Double-Crossed

Like Yacker had said, the final racetrack went across Angel Island, then through the cliffs and forests of Mystic Ruins. The Chaos Emeralds remained within the gate, but without the power of the Master Emerald, Angel Island remained seaborne. Fortunately, there were still Wisps to assist in traversing the massive island and its neighboring ruins.

At the end of the round, Team Dark beat Team Rose, Team Chaotix beat Team Hex, and Team Babylon beat Team Heroes. When the races finally finished, everyone gathered up at the starting line. They grabbed the seven Chaos Emeralds as well and held onto them, just to be safe.

"Well, that's that," said Sonic, "but we still don't know who won the tournament."

"Quite right, blue hedgehog," a familiar voice said, "quite right."

Everyone looked towards the voice, and there were Dodon Pa and Omochao, just floating above them. They had returned all on their own.

Blaze frowned at them. "So, you've finally decided to return to us, have you?" she asked firmly. "Where have you been, and what was your plan leaving us alone like that?"

"Our only plan is for this Grand Prix to end fair and square," said Dodon Pa. "And so…"

"We've constructed the ultimate tiebreaker and official deciding race!" declared Omochao proudly. "We have been to our secret base to perfect it."

"Ultimate tiebreaker race, huh?" asked Jet, looking annoyed. "Well, this oughta be a waste of effort. What is it?"

Suddenly, Dodon Pa and Omochao's eyes began to glow an ominous, evil shade of red, and they spoke with intimidating voices. "This!" they declared, and they each held up a Phantom Ruby prototype!

The two prototypes began emanating their twisting power, and everyone's Gears began to glow and strangely twist around! The Gears all flickered and disappeared, and then everything around the racers became dark red and shadowy. Nobody could see anything around them, and then they all blacked out.

Soon, Sonic regained consciousness. He sat up, and he found his Extreme Gear lying right next to him. Then he saw Tails and Knuckles nearby, and all the other racers were there, too.

"Guys?" Sonic asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Amy, a little weakly, "we're a little… shaken up, but we're all here."

Jet looked around and was confused. They were in a strange, twisting dimension. "Where are we?" he asked.

"Beats me, Jet," said Wave. "Wherever we are, how did we get here?"

Just then, there was an evil cackle that sounded all too familiar:

"At last! At long last!"

Everyone looked towards the sound of the voice, and there was Dr. Eggman in his Egg Mobile, along with Dodon Pa and Omochao!

Everyone, including a shocked and bemused Zavok, gasped in surprise. "EGGMAN!" they all declared together.

Eggman cackled. "Yes, you fools! It is I, the greatest mastermind the universe has ever known!" he declared. "You fools all fell right into my ultimate trap!"

"Your 'ultimate trap'?" asked Sonic. "What's that supposed to mean? I thought Dodon Pa was sponsoring the Grand Prix this time."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Eggman chuckled. "That's what you all fell for! The Omochao and Dodon Pa you thought you knew up until now… were replicas created by the newest line of Phantom Ruby prototypes!" Just as Eggman said so, the figures of Dodon Pa and Omochao flickered and faded away.

Sonic angrily pointed at Eggman. "Oh, you've done it this time, Baldy McNosehair!" he growled. "You're gonna pay for this!"

"Then let's see how well you fools can prove that!" Eggman declared, grinning evilly. "Go ahead, race! All of you! The team whose three members cross the finish line first will win this race, but it still won't be enough to defeat me!"

An artificial starting gate generated nearby, and the dimension opened up in a long, tunnel-shaped manner.

This time, Sonic and his friends lined up in a different format. The six Speed-type racers lined up first, then the Flight-type racers lined up immediately behind their teammates, and the Power-type racers lined up behind them. The order from left to right went Team Chaotix, Team Dark, Team Heroes, Team Babylon, Team Rose, and Team Hex. On the artificial starting gate, a countdown commenced, and everyone set off.

Throughout the strange dimension, much of the course's layout was very unique. All the kickers were glowing magenta with black stripes that represented arrows, and many parts of the course had a lot of twists and loops. The barricades for Power-type racers were constructed out of strange, magenta cubes, and the grind rails for Speed-type racers were all rectangular rail shapes instead of round.

There was even a bright, white portal partway through the course that the racers went through. Upon going through it, they were in for a long, vertical drop. Fortunately, their Extreme Gears were able to save them from getting hurt.

After three laps, Jet and his team won the race by a narrow mark. Team Heroes came in second, closely trailing them.

Jet, Wave, and Storm skidded to a stop below where Eggman was, and they stared up at him. "All right, Eggman," Jet declared, "we won your little race. Now give us what we earned!"

"Yes, you may have won this race…" Eggman said calmly, and then he sounded evil again. "But you haven't beaten me and my team!" He snapped his fingers, and a portal opened up beside him. He waved at everyone and headed inside. "So long, suckers!"

Jet clenched his fists and growled. "Why, that dirty man!" he declared. "He thinks he can mess with me, does he? We'll show him!" He looked at his teammates, and he grabbed his Gear. "Come on, let's go!"

"Right!" agreed Storm and Wave, and the three of them headed into the portal after Eggman.

Then, Shadow stepped up as well. "I'm going to show that doctor he's made a big mistake, too!" he declared. "If he thinks he can mess with me, I'll just have to pay him back!" Shadow took his Gear and ran inside the portal as well, and Rouge and Omega shortly followed him.

Then, Zavok became angry. "I knew this had Eggman's dirty mustache written all over it!" he said. "I'm going to stop him, too!" He took his Gear, and then he ran inside.

"Zavok, wait!" Silver called, and then he and Blaze followed him as well.

However, Vector remained calm. "I don't want to beat Eggman up, I just wanna get my money," he said, then he looked at Espio and Charmy. "Boys, we're going in!"

"Yes, sir!" Charmy declared.

"Roger," Espio calmly answered, and then Team Chaotix headed inside, too.

After they had gone, Sonic and Amy were left with their teams. "So, this was just another scheme of Eggman's, after all," Amy replied.

"What else is new?" asked Sonic casually. "We should probably go stop him as well."

"Yeah, he'll pay for taking the Master Emerald!" Knuckles declared, pounding his fists together.

Tails thought about something, and then he spoke. "I don't like where this is going," he said nervously, "but what choice do we have?"

"You're right, Tails," agreed Cream. "We need to follow them!"

Sonic grinned at his friends. "So, we're all in then, aren't we?" he said. "Let's go!" So he, Amy, Big, Cream, Knuckles, and Tails followed their friends through the portal, leaving nothing behind in the strange dimension.

After everyone made their way through the portal, they came across a strange location within a stormy sky. They looked around, but they couldn't see anything except for ancient buildings and a racecourse traveling across the place.

Jet looked down, and he gasped. "This is… Babylon Garden!" he declared. "We're on the very top of the whole course!"

"Babylon Garden?" asked Tails. "But how is that possible? The last time we saw it, it was transformed back into its starship form."

"Something must've restored it to the form it was when it was released," Wave replied, "but what?"

"That would be my doing," a strange voice declared. Everyone looked up towards it, and they saw a strange figure floating above them. It had a red glow radiating from its gray body, a mask covering its face, and a triangular-shaped ruby embedded into its chest.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles gasped in horror. "Infinite!" they declared together. "You're alive?!"

"Indeed, I am," Infinite answered. "Thanks to the doctor's supreme intellect, he was able to save me at the last second from certain death, and now I am back for my revenge."

"Who is that?" gasped Jet.

"That's Infinite," answered Shadow. "He's a jackal whom I defeated a while back, but he then decided to cast away his old self and become more powerful using the power of the Phantom Ruby."

Sonic prepared to attack Infinite by stretching and preparing a Spin Dash. "You want your revenge, Infinite," he declared cockily, "I'll show you that I can beat you again."

"Oh, I don't mean by fighting, blue rodent," Infinite declared, and then he held his hands out. Right away, an Extreme Gear that nobody had ever seen before appeared from thin air, and it was gray, magenta, and black. "I mean I'm here to take my revenge… upon Extreme Gear."

Then, Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic appeared from the drop nearby, where the official starting line was. Eggman was dressed in his Extreme Gear attire and had his customized Bike-type Extreme Gear, the E-Rider. Metal Sonic had the Board-type Extreme Gear he had created himself using data from the last World Grand Prix, known as the Metal Star.

Sonic was shocked to see them. "Eggman? Metal Sonic?" he asked. "You're going to race, too?"

"Of course, you insolent blue pest!" Eggman announced. "Infinite, Metal Sonic, and I are going to race as our own team: Team Eggman! Just like last time, we were recording your racing data for ourselves using the Dodon Pa and Omochao replicas you fools had fallen for, and we used the data to modify our own Extreme Gears!"

Metal Sonic nodded and made strange sounds, and Infinite lowered to the ground beside him. "So, how would you all like to see who's really the world's best Extreme Gear racing team?" asked Infinite. "With this Gear I've constructed for myself using your data and the power of my Phantom Ruby prototype, we shall not lose. I call my Gear the Phantom."

"All right," said Sonic, "we're in!"

"Yeah," added Jet, "we'll all race you!"

"Wonderful!" Eggman cackled. "But don't think you'll have any chance of beating us, though!"

"Okay, then let's do it!" Sonic declared bravely.

In a few minutes, everyone lined up at the starting line. The order was the same as the previous race, with all the Speed-type racers in front, the Flight-type racers in the middle, and the Power-type racers in the back. Eggman's team was on the far left side, with Metal Sonic in the front, Infinite in the middle, and Eggman in the back. A countdown commenced, and everyone rocketed off.

During the race, Eggman's team put up a real challenge for everyone else. Metal Sonic was a Speed-type racer, so he was able to grind along the rails set up across the course. Infinite was able to fly using his Phantom Ruby prototype, so he was classified as a Flight-type rider. Finally, Eggman was his team's Power-type rider, partially because his Gear was a Bike-type. Their Gears managed to stay ahead for most of the race, but they didn't seem to have any increased performance rates than everyone else's Gears.

Despite their best efforts, all the other teams managed to overtake Eggman's team, and Team Babylon finished the race first again.

After the race, Eggman and Infinite were furious. "How?!" Eggman gasped. "How could we lose again?! After everything we've done, it _still_ wasn't enough?!"

"Check and mate, doctor," Wave grinned. "Our team won fair and square, now give us our reward!"

Eggman growled in anger, but at last, he relented. "Oh, fine," he muttered. But before he could go anywhere, Orbot and Cubot came up to him from behind.

"Uh, boss," said Orbot, "we have a little problem."

"What is it?" asked Eggman.

"Well," began Orbot, "the thing is, about the treasure and money rewards you sent us to keep an eye on-…" But he was interrupted by Cubot.

"They aren't there anymore," Cubot said proudly.

Now, Eggman was even more furious! "WHAT?!" he gasped. "I sent you two bolt-brains to keep an eye on them, and you can't even do something as simple as that?!"

"It wasn't our fault, boss," said Orbot. "They were gone before we got there."

"So… they were stolen?" asked Eggman, and then he looked accusingly at the racers. "Which one of you dunderheads stole the reward?!" But nobody said a word or moved.

"That's the thing, boss," Cubot continued. "You see, we actually figured out who stole the prizes."

Eggman looked towards his robot minions again, but before he could ask anything, he heard robotic cackling. He looked towards it, and he saw three robots, each one being the same colors as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. They also had the Master Emerald!

Eggman gasped in delight. "My perfected E-10000 prototype models!" he declared. "They're here!" But before he could do anything, they summoned a massive army of green robots from nowhere, and they began attacking everyone!

Eggman was stunned by his own racing robots attacking him. "What is going on here?!" he asked.

"In your pride and dignity," explained Orbot, "you neglected to have your replicas stop obtaining power and data from all the races that have been going on. So now, their systems are overloading and are now trying to take revenge against everyone."

Infinite used his power to repel all the green robots and make them disappear, but he still seemed concerned for everyone, including his enemies. "This is worse than you'd have expected, doctor," he said calmly. "With so much data at their disposal, those robots might try to destroy everything here!"

"They've also stolen the treasure rewards and hidden them somewhere, and that's why we can't find them," added Cubot.

Eggman growled at this, and he began stomping on the ground. "Why, you… you… YOU!" he shouted.

Suddenly, the three robots each grabbed a Gear, and they flew off towards the center of the island. They left the Master Emerald behind, but then the whole island began to shake violently!

Eggman was horrified. "They're heading for the core reactor!" he declared. "If they destroy that, this whole place will collapse!"

Sonic stepped up beside Eggman. "Don't worry, Eggman," he said, "I'll teach those robots a lesson for you."

Infinite looked at Sonic. "You can't possibly be thinking of challenging _them_ to a race, can you?" he asked. "They possess racing data from every single one of us. Besides, this place was constructed by Eggman himself to recreate Babylon Garden and its Astral Form using the power of the core reactor, which is another Phantom Ruby prototype. If they destroy it, you'll most likely not make it out alive!"

Tails and Knuckles stepped up beside Sonic. "Then we'll go, too!" Tails declared.

"Yeah," Knuckles agreed. "We'll beat those robots and show them just what we can do together!"

Then Sonic looked back at everyone else. "You guys should get out of here," he said to them. "This may get ugly."

"But how can we get down?" asked Amy. "We're so high up in the sky!"

Jet grinned. "No worries, I've got it!" he declared. He took a remote control from Wave and pressed a big, red button. Immediately, Jet's flying airship came up to them all on its own!

"Wow, Wave," said Tails, "you think of everything."

Wave chuckled. "I do, don't I?" she smiled.

Knuckles quickly took the Master Emerald and reluctantly gave it to Jet. "Take this and get off this place!" he said. "We'll meet you back on the ground as soon as we deal with these guys!"

"Got it," said Jet, and he began running towards his airship. "Everyone, get on!"

The door to Jet's airship opened, and a ramp extended out to reach the track. Wave and Storm went onto it first, then everyone else, excluding Dr. Eggman, Metal Sonic, and Infinite followed them. Eggman flew away with Orbot and Cubot in his Egg Mobile, and Metal Sonic and Infinite flew away after him.

Just before Jet went inside, he took one more look at Sonic and his team. "Sonic!" he called as he put the Master Emerald inside the ship. "Here, use these!" One by one, he tossed the Chaos Emeralds out to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. The three of them caught them all successfully, and then they looked at Jet.

"Good luck, Sonic the Hedgehog," Jet said confidently. "We're counting on you and your friends."

"No problem, Jet!" Sonic declared proudly. "Just be careful!"

Jet went inside with the Master Emerald, and the door to the airship closed. The ramp retracted, and the airship flew away, heading back for the ground.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles took the Chaos Emeralds with them, and they went off on their Extreme Gears after the three robots. Just as they left the ground, the whole place transformed from Babylon Garden… into Astral Babylon!


	12. Closing Awards Ceremony

As Jet's airship flew away from the recreated Astral Babylon, the air pressure that he had to fight was incredibly powerful. Because of the highly unstable level of power within the robots, several augmented shapes and figures were scattered everywhere the ship flew.

On the bridge, Jet tried his best to keep his ship flying level, but it was far too difficult for him to hold onto the steering wheel. Almost everyone else was there with him, trying hard to help him keep the ship going.

Jet closed his eyes in determination as he grasped the steering wheel. "Argh… come on, come on, come on!" he declared. "Don't fail me now!"

At that moment, the ship was suddenly struck by one of the augmented figures in the rear! It hit the rear propeller, blasting it off, and the ship began to lose power!

An alarm started blasting inside the ship, leaving Jet horrified. "What's going on?!" he called out.

"Boss! We've been hit!" Storm called out over the siren. "We've lost our ship's right engine!"

"WHAT?!" Jet screamed. He looked out the window, and he saw clouds rising as they fell! The ground was coming up fast!

"Mayday, mayday!" Wave called out. "We're going to crash!"

"Everyone, prepare for impact!" Storm called out, and everyone headed out of the bridge towards the back of the ship. But with the ship losing so much altitude, it was incredibly difficult.

The ship came down to the ground in the middle of Metal City, down near where all the cars generally gathered up. The ship landed nose first, slid along the ground for a while, and then came to a stop.

Once the ship had stopped, everyone began to emerge from it, all carrying their Extreme Gears. Jet was the first one to escape, and then came Wave and Storm. Once everyone had safely escaped and was outside of the ship, Jet began to address everyone.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked.

One by one, everyone answered positively to confirm that they were all okay.

"Thank goodness," Jet sighed, relieved. Then, he looked at the ship. "Wave, what do you think about our ship?"

Wave looked all over it, and then she answered. "Well, I can probably fix it, but as much as I hate to say it, I'll need that shrimp to help me."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem," Blaze replied. "I know he'll be glad to, as long as he's respected."

Wave glanced at Blaze. "Yeah… sure. Anyway, I was more worried when we were about to crash that we wouldn't all make it out of that."

"Yeah, but what about Sonic?" asked Amy. "He, Tails, and Knuckles are all still up on the island!"

"Amy's right," Silver agreed. "I don't know what it's like up there, but I'd imagine they're going through which may be worse than what we encountered."

"Don't worry about that," said Jet, "I gave him the Chaos Emeralds. If he encounters too much up there, he'll at least have an exit."

Amy stared up towards the giant floating fortress. "I hope so…" she whispered. "I really do…"

Everyone stared up at the recreated Astral Babylon island, all worried about what Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles might be experiencing. As they did, the Babylon Rogues all closed their eyes and began to whisper:

"Come on, you red mutt—" Storm whispered, "or rather, Knuckles, and don't give up. We're all counting on you to stop those robots and save the world."

"You may be a shorty… shorty," Wave whispered, "but it's all up to you and your friends now. Don't give up until it's over, shrimp… or actually, Tails."

"Come on, Sonic," Jet whispered, "don't let them beat you. We need you to stop those robots and destroy Eggman's scheme."

Everyone else was hoping the same thing.

Back on the island, the three robots were waiting for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles at the center. They stood beside a large prototype of the Phantom Ruby which was pumping power into the whole flying fortress.

Sonic faced the robots and looked determined. "Okay, so let's do this!" he declared.

"Fools!" declared the blue robot. "You cannot defeat us!"

"We have copied all your data and are using it for ourselves," added the yellow robot. "But then again, we could use even more…"

"Such as the power of the core reactor!" declared the red robot.

The three robots touched the core reactor, and it resonated with their bodies. They felt a massive surge of energy radiating inside them, and then their bodies began radiating that energy.

"Well," said Sonic, "I guess it's time for this!" Sonic allowed the Chaos Emeralds to levitate around him in a circle, and then they fused into his body… turning him into Super Sonic! He then shared his energy with Tails and Knuckles just like when they fought Metal Sonic as Metal Overlord, and the three of them were now Team Super Sonic!

The two super-charged teams lined up at one more starting line, and after the countdown finished, they all sped away. Because Team Super Sonic needed Rings to maintain their super forms, they had to collect a lot of Rings that were scattered along the track. Fortunately, they each were granted with a magnetic barrier which attracted the Rings.

As Super Sonic, Super Tails, and Super Knuckles rode along the course, they each managed to maintain their normal abilities. This meant that Super Sonic could still grind, Super Tails could still use the air ride, and Super Knuckles could still smash through obstacles. But while they were in their super forms, their speed, acceleration, and durability stats were all raised drastically. But they also still had to maintain the Air in their Extreme Gears. Whenever they ran out, they charged through the course at higher speeds off their Gears, burning through their Rings at a faster rate.

When the third lap was completed, the three robots charged at the massive Phantom Ruby prototype which was in the center of the course, and it began to crack!

"Shoot!" Tails called. "They've cracked the core!"

"There's going to be an explosion!" added Knuckles. "We've got to get out of here!"

"See you guys later!" Sonic declared, and he and his super friends flew away.

The robots didn't manage to escape, because energy began to leak from the giant reactor… and then there was an explosion!

Back down on earth in Metal City, everyone saw Eggman's massive fortress explode, with a blinding light filling the sky. The light radiated for a few minutes… and then, it stopped.

From the explosion, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles came back down in their super forms with their Extreme Gears. The Chaos Emeralds flew out of their bodies, and they safely landed on the ground. The three E-10000 robots all crashed onto the ground beside them, now damaged and unresponsive.

"Sonic!" Amy gasped. "You really did it!" She ran towards him and threw her arms around him, lifting her leg in the process.

Sonic was embarrassed, but happy he and his friends had won. "Yeah," he said, "I guess we did."

Tails looked at the damaged robots in despair. "It's such a shame. Eggman created these three robots on his own to become the perfect riders using our data, but they overloaded, went berserk, and nearly destroyed everything."

"Well, it's his own fault, shorty," said Wave.

"You can say that again, Wave," agreed Storm. "If Eggman had even thought about it in the first place, maybe his World Grand Prix may have been more like how you expected."

"Well, he'll be back one of these days," scoffed Knuckles. "He always does come back with a vengeance."

Just then, a final group of green E-10000 series robots came up. They grabbed the three prototype robots that had been destroyed, picked them and their Gears up, and took them away.

After Eggman's robots had all gone, everyone was left alone.

"So I guess that's that," said Sonic. "This Grand Prix is officially over."

"Well, I suppose," Jet replied. "I suppose I should show some sort of appreciation." He looked back at Wave and Storm. "Guys, give them the Master Emerald."

"What?!" gasped Wave. "But it's very valuable. Why should we give it up if we won it?"

"Because it's a very old relic that rightfully belongs to Knuckles' home," Jet answered.

Wave and Storm looked disappointed as they picked up the Master Emerald. They walked over to Knuckles, gave him back the Emerald, and stepped away shamefully. They didn't like having to give up a reward, but they knew Jet was right. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had saved the world, and they deserved to take back what was rightfully theirs.

"So what?" asked Rouge, sounding rather bored. "There's no treasure in this after all?"

"Not quite," said a familiar voice. Everyone looked towards it and saw Dodon Pa and Omochao once again.

"You?!" gasped Jet.

"It's okay, Jet," said Omochao, "this is the real Dodon Pa. Eggman had us tied up in a supply closet this whole time, but we managed to escape a little while ago."

"Ladies and gentlemen," Dodon Pa declared, "you all have my most profound gratitude."

"It was nothing, really," said Sonic. "I'm just sorry we didn't end up rescuing the treasure and cash reward."

"You mean…" Dodon Pa began, and then he moved to the side, "…_this_ treasure and cash reward?" Behind him was a mountain of treasure, and an opened treasure chest of cash.

Jet, Wave, and Storm suddenly gasped with delight. "So there really was a reward in it this time," Wave said.

"Yes, purple swallow," said Dodon Pa. "That mustachioed man had kidnapped me and stolen the treasure and money from my kingdom, then his masked marauder friend had copied me with some strange power. But to show my gratitude for your saving me, I'd like to reward all of you with this as your own."

"Thanks, Dodon Pa," said Knuckles, "but I've got what I came for. I got the Master Emerald back, and that's all that matters to me."

"So what should we do with our share?" asked Tails.

Sonic just grinned at everyone else. "If you all want it," he said, "you can have it."

Amy just smiled. "Well, I already have the most valuable treasure I could wish for," she said cheerfully, "and it's right here, beside me." She grabbed Sonic's arm, and Sonic blushed again. "That reminds me, you still are going to take me out on a date, right, Sonic?"

Sonic chuckled sheepishly. "Uh… yeah," he said nervously, "of course, Amy."

Cream smiled at Cheese. "I was happy to have a fun time, weren't you, Cheese?" she asked him. "Our friendship is the most valuable treasure to me."

Cheese squealed in joy, and he cuddled with Cream.

Big opened the plexiglass capsule and took Froggy out. "And my best treasure is my best friend," he declared, and he cuddled Froggy. He squeezed him so tightly, he spit out something red. It was a small piece of a Phantom Ruby prototype that he had accidentally gotten caught in his mouth from before.

Big saw the shard, and then he looked at Froggy. "Are you okay, Froggy?" he asked.

All Froggy responded with was a frog's ribbit.

Big smiled at his best friend. "I'll say that's a yes," he declared, and he put Froggy back inside the capsule. "When we get home, maybe we'll go fishing to celebrate." Then, he looked down at his Gear. "Boy, this Gear thingy was fun to ride," he said, "can I keep it?"

"Of course, you can, Big," said Omochao. "It's all yours."

Then, Blaze smiled. "I do not need a treasure or monetary reward, either," she said calmly. "I was just happy to have a fun time at my very first Extreme Gear World Grand Prix."

"So was I," added Silver. "And come to think of it, Zavok was a pretty good teammate after all, wasn't he?" he asked Blaze.

"Indeed, he was," agreed Blaze. Then, she looked at Zavok. "So Zavok, Silver and I have come to an agreement that you were a very good leader for our team after all."

This made Zavok smile, too. "I was?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Silver. "Maybe next Grand Prix, we'll enter as a team again. What do you say?"

Zavok thought for a second, and then he nodded. "It's a plan, then," he declared. "We shall try to be a team again next time… just as long as you two approve, and you don't find another teammate."

Silver and Blaze both nodded.

"Then I guess that means more cash for us!" Vector declared, and he hurried over to the treasure chest. "Wow, look at all this money!" he declared. "With even a small amount of this, we can catch up on the office payments _and_ get ahead of them!"

Charmy fluttered over the cash and grinned at it, too. "Yeah, this is awesome!" he declared, and then he looked at Espio. "What did you think, Espio? Didn't you enjoy today as well?"

For once, Espio smiled in agreement. "Yes, I'll admit, it was a very good time," he answered. "I did have fun with this tournament."

"We can celebrate by going out for dinner tonight!" Vector declared. "And it's on me!" Vector took three handfuls of cash from the treasure chest, while Charmy took two handfuls and Espio took only one, but it still left a lot of cash inside the chest.

Shadow scoffed at Vector's cash desire, but he grinned. "Well, this was a pretty good tournament, wasn't it?" he asked Rouge.

"Yes," Rouge answered. "Now, I can finally get some treasure that's rightfully mine."

"Just remember, we _all_ earned this," Wave told her, "so don't take it all for yourself."

"I know, I know," Rouge replied. "So, why don't you three go first? After all, you did beat the doctor fair and square."

"Uh… okay," said Jet. "Thanks." He, Wave, and Storm each took as much of the treasure as they each could carry… which barely made a dent in the pile. Then they took their share of the cash prize, which also left a lot inside the chest.

"The rest is all yours, then," said Wave to Rouge.

Rouge looked at what was left of the reward, and her eyes lit up with delight. "Oh, come to Mama!" she called, and she ran over to the treasure, joyfully beaming at it.

Shadow then looked at Omega. "So, Omega, how did you enjoy this tournament?" he asked his friend.

"It was very fun," Omega declared. "For once, Eggman has created something worthwhile. I look forward to the next time."

"So do I," said Shadow.

Meanwhile, Wave placed her treasure down and went to Tails. "Hey, Tails," she whispered to him.

Tails looked at Wave, surprised that for once, she called him by his name. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Would you be possibly willing to… help me fix our ship?" Wave asked quietly. "Please?"

"Well… okay," said Tails, "I'd be glad to. Oh, and thanks for calling me 'Tails' this time."

"Yeah, sure… But don't tell anyone about this," Wave warned him, "because if you do, I swear I'll get you for it. I'm only asking you for help because I can't fix our ship on my own, and I'm too worn out to call you a name right now."

"Okay, Wave," said Tails, "I understand."

While everyone was marveling at their rewards, Sonic spoke to Dodon Pa. "Well, Dodon Pa," he said, "I guess this day turned out well after all."

"Indeed, it has, blue hedgehog," he agreed. "At first, I had no desire to get involved with this… but now, I think that I will."

"How so?" asked Sonic.

"Because I am a royal king, I earn limitless cash and treasure every day of the year," Dodon Pa answered. "I suppose that I will provide the reward for the next Grand Prix… in exchange for advertisements of Donpa Motors."

"Sounds good to me," Sonic grinned, and then he looked at everyone else. "Did you guys get that? Dodon Pa will provide the reward for the next Ex World Grand Prix in exchange for advertisements for his company. Does that work for everyone?"

Everyone agreed, and they went back to their delight.

Amy just stared at Sonic happily. "So, Sonic," Amy said to him, "if you're still up for that date you promised me, I'm ready whenever you are."

For once, Sonic was happy to go out with Amy. "Yeah, so am I," he told her. "Maybe we should just run home first and change."

"I agree," Amy said, "but first, I think we should do our closing."

"What closing?" asked Sonic, but then he smiled. "Oh, right, that closing." Then, he looked at Omochao. "Well, Omochao, take it away."

Omochao held onto his microphone, and then he began speaking to no one in particular. As he did, a camera recorded him and the rest of the cast of the story.

"Well, folks, it's another end to a World Grand Prix with no clear champion to show for it. But this time, it all works out well in the end, as there is a legit reward, thanks to the all-honorable Dodon Pa. I would like to thank our six competing teams for agreeing to participate in our tournament and all of you fans for supporting us throughout this whole event. Here's looking forward to the next exciting Ex World Grand Prix, hosted by Dr. Eggman and sponsored by Dodon Pa and Donpa Motors. So until that day, this is Omochao, Dodon Pa, and all our racers signing off. Buh-bye!"


End file.
